Haunting Past
by AnimeWolfGirl9
Summary: He came from a broken world, trying to restart. But a mission weighs heavy on his shoulders, one that might just change the fate of the world.
1. Waiting

Hello everyone, AnimeWolfGirl9 here! Hoping everyone is excited for the first chapter of _Haunting Past_. Hope you enjoy it! (Don't worry; I will explain more at the end of this chapter!)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z and every right goes to its owners. I do own my OC's though**.

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Chapter 1: Waiting

Waiting… the one thing he had been doing for too long. He hadn't known how long he had been waiting for 'him' to arrive; all he knew that, to himself, it was too long. Personally, he thought that the place that he was in was getting boring; it had gotten boring a _long_ time ago. Yet again, every day he had to stare at the same old surroundings. Once, just once, he wished it would change.

_The only bright thing I have to look forward to is that the longer I wait in here, the closer 'he' will be to finding out_, he thought with a mixture of excitement and slight annoyance. Excitement that this _mission_ of his would finally be over and annoyance that 'he' was taking so long to get here.

_But you can't blame him for taking so long_, he reminded himself,_ he doesn't know yet, and what I have to tell him is going to be a big load on his mind._

He sighed, knowing that the task ahead of him was not a pleasant one. Knowing that when 'he' came, things would just get harder; everything that he would have to explain, and everything that came after. And he knew that soon, the 'rest of them' would find out, and that that would make things even more difficult. A small spark of anger went through him at the small thought of 'the others'. Everything that they had done to him, abandoned him, left him to care for his friends, _everything_…

He took a calming breath as he closed his eyes. He didn't want to get too worked up; just in case 'he' could actually feel it. Thinking through things, he realized just how much _control_ he had over 'him'.

_In a way, things actually worked out better,_ he thought. Then he started to frown.

_That is, until 'the others' can sense me. Although I wouldn't worry about that too much; that most likely won't be for a while now. At least, until I can actually help 'him' without forcing it too much._

He quickly glanced down, getting a quick look at what was currently keeping him alive. It had an almost delicate aura to it, bathed in pure white and glowing. But he did not dwell on it for long, instead his thoughts wandered.

_It's only because of her that I know this much and that I am able to do this,_ he thought,_ then again, she is coming to help too._

That then sent his mind into wondering when she would get here, and just how much longer he would have to wait. He could feel that his energy was fading with all the time passing, and he knew that he would have to try and replenish it soon. He shuddered as forbidden memories flooded into his head. He tried closing his eyes to make them go away, but they just followed him there. When the memories finally went away, he sighed again. He knew that 'he' would have to face some of the things from the memories, unpleasant things, but he also hoped that some of the memories might just fade away; to never have existed, only to be a bad dream. But he knew that even if that was the case, he would still be haunted by them, still remember them, and still relive them.

_And all of the while I am still waiting,_ he thought, _always waiting…_

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Well there it is; the first chapter! Sorry I know that it is pretty confusing right now, but don't worry, you will understand more when the next chapter comes out. I would like to see if you can guess who is talking in this first chapter. It might be an OC and it might not, we will just have to wait and see. This is going to be a side story from my main one right now: I Need You. I would like to welcome the new readers and the ones from my other fanfiction. Also, if you have read chapter 10 of I Need You, let's say there are some parallels to this chapter and that one. I do have to apologize though. I am not sure how often I will be able to update this fanfiction since some of the chapters might have spoilers for I Need You, but I am going to try my best and to avoid that. Either way, this fanfiction is not really like the show, so you might have to reread stuff to understand it better. The fanfiction is rated "M" just because of some violence (if I can even pull that off). If anything else changes, I will let you know. And no, you are not being fooled when the character listed says 'Gohan'. Either way, thanks for reading and please review.

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	2. The Place I Came From

Hi everyone! I decided to post the second chapter early when I realized that I probably didn't give you a lot to work off of. Sorry about that, it's just that I couldn't reveal too much or else this chapter would have been spoiled. Just to tell you, if you didn't understand from chapter 1, this story is about Gohan's "other self". I can tell that you were guessing in your head, its ok not to leave a review; I just sometimes find if fun to know what everyone else is thinking. Special thanks to _Waffle192_ for favoriting/ alert for this fanfiction and for _MissieMidget1204_ for reviewing. I am putting a 1st person perspective in the beginning, but then it switches back to the normal way I write. Just thought you would like to know that. Either way, I hope you understand this chapter more than you did the last! (If you ever are confused on anything, you can PM me or leave it in a review and I will hopefully get back to you.)

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Chapter 2: Where I Came From

I won't lie to you; the place I came from wasn't a pleasant one. Even though it has been about three hundred years since I last saw it, I still remember it as clear as if it happened yesterday.

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The land was ravaged, torn to pieces by the Tako. Large craters littered the ground, not to mention the dead bodies; some fresh while others were rotting carcasses. The air always smelled of burning and death, and fire was seen in towns that had been recently destroyed by the Tako. Gohan had only seen it once, and that had been a while ago, for which he was glad. He didn't think that he could take seeing the strange creature again, especially when it had caused so much death and destruction. But what had bothered him the most was knowing what it was after: him.

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_They had been running away for a long time, but still no matter how far or fast they ran, it was always right behind them. Gohan didn't know how, all he knew was that it had been happening like that. Then suddenly, they were cornered, not having enough strength to even fly. It appeared behind them in only moments, using one of its long transparent tentacles to fling away Yamcha and Tien, who had tried to press the savage creature back a few paces. Gohan looked around at his friends and father, knowing that they would protect him at whatever the cost, even with the given circumstances. Gohan looked back at the creature: the Tako, as it was known. Eight transparent tentacles that were used for attack and absorbing were attached to a clear, membrane-like body. The "octopus", if that's what you could call it, had a crimson-red glowing appendix inside of the membrane. He shuddered; knowing what would happen if it got too close to him. Suddenly, a figure appeared behind the Tako. She had streaks of gray in her white hair and was wearing a torn black dress that seemed glued to her body, but one thing that scared Gohan was that the figure had the same blood crimson eyes as one of his friends. As soon as Goku saw the figure, he turned to Gohan._

_ "Gohan, run," Goku told his son. Gohan had heard the words countless times, but he had never heard the severity in his father's voice as he had then. He knew what he should have done: followed his father's wishes, but he was too tired of being useless. He didn't want to have to run away anymore._

_ "No…" Gohan started to say, but Goku had apparently known what he would say._

_ "Gohan, listen to me. You have to run. You know where to go," Goku started, but cut his son off again as he continued, "you know what will happen if they get you."_

_ He knew for sure what would happen: the Tako would become immortal, and the figure would wipe out the remaining population on Earth. After that, Gohan had no idea what they would do, but whatever it was he knew it would be worse than mass murdering a whole planet. So Gohan abided by his father's wish and ran. He didn't remember much after that, only arriving safely at the one little area the Tako hadn't destroyed. He remembered running inside of the building and just sitting down on the floor. After that, he had started to berate himself of how they were all going to die just because he had been too weak to help them. He had always been too weak. Then, he had remembered dozing and then being woken up by the sound of footsteps. Faltering footsteps then proceeded by shadows in the doorway. Gohan felt relief shoot through him as he saw his father, Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo; but then the relief was replace by dread when he saw that two people were missing: Vegeta and Tien._

_ "Daddy, where are Vegeta and Tien?" Gohan asked after everyone was situated into the building. He saw everyone except Piccolo look at each other before Krillin answered._

_ "Well, Vegeta went to another area. I'm not surprised since he can barely stand being in the same room with us…" Krillin stated and tried to lighten the seemingly heavy mood with his joke, but then grew silent when he couldn't finish his sentence._

_ "And Tien?" Gohan asked warily, not failing to notice the sad glances between the others and the sirens going off in his head._

_ "Gohan…" Goku started off carefully before sighing, "Tien wasn't able to make it back with us."_

_ Gohan at first stared at his father, not quite sure if he was hearing correctly what his father had just said._

Tien… wasn't able to make it back?_ He thought with confusion as he tried to comprehend what was being said. He could see that everyone was staring at him, waiting for a response, but the only thing that went through his mind were his father's words and confusion._

_ "He wasn't able to make it back?" Gohan repeated what his father had just said in the form of a question, earning a sad nod from his father. Suddenly, the truth hit him, making his eyes widen._

How?_ Gohan thought as he stood up and rushed for the door. Goku's eyes widened as he knew what his son was going to do, and, just before Gohan could get out the door, teleported in front of him._

_ "Gohan, I know what you are going to do, but don't. Don't do it," Goku said as he stared sadly at his son, seeing the same grief in his son's eyes as his own. Gohan didn't quite get what his father was saying, he couldn't comprehend it. The same question kept going through his head as he sat there staring at his father. He knew he was shaking; he could feel his power level was taking strange spikes, the incident making Piccolo start to walk over warily to the door. Gohan knew that if both his dad and Piccolo tried to stop him, he would never be able to know the answer to the question in his head. He suddenly stood up and knocked his father away from the door, escaping through it moments before Piccolo grabbed the empty air where he had been. _

_ Gohan knew that he had next to no energy, but curiosity and light anger gave him what he lacked; with that, he lifted into the air and tried to fly as fast as he could. He could sense his father's Ki following the direction he came, but lucky for him, Goku couldn't fly as fast as he normally could due to being weakened. Before he knew it, Gohan arrived at the place where the Tako had cornered them, and when he saw what was next, he wished that he would have listened to his father. There was Tien, or more like half of him, lying on the ground, dead. His head, which Gohan couldn't find, was severed from his body, leaving a bloody mess where it would have been. The body was at an odd angle, but he was pretty sure that Tien's arms had been broken long before his friend had died._

So much blood,_ was the thought that replaced his question. Gohan had never liked blood, but seeing so much of it made him sick and weak. He also knew that he didn't like the blood for another reason, all because of one tiny little Lotus. He remembered just floating there, feeling weaker and sensing his father's Ki coming ever closer. But all he could think about was the blood. Gohan knew that he was too weak to continue staying conscious; that, coupled with the sick feeling of nausea he felt, was what made him fall backwards through the air. Darkness covered his vision._

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Yeah, sorry I know that was short, but I cut it short so I could update quickly and have more chapters. Hope that gave you something else to work off of. Also, "tako" is the Japanese word for octopus, which is basically what the Tako is (don't worry, I looked it up). I think most of this fanfiction will be flashbacks (not from the show), but ones of his "other self". When I say Gohan in here, I technically mean his "other self". If the print is in normal, most of the time that will be present (Except the second skip in this chapter). Now I am wondering, what do you think will happen next? And what about Goku, who was close behind Gohan? I please hope you will tell me in a review. Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	3. The Once Silent Grave

Welcome to chapter 3 of Haunting Past! I am seriously excited for this chapter since it has some more revealing events for Gohan's "other self", but I do have to say, this is the hardest fanfiction that I am writing so far. Also, like I said in another author's note, this fanfiction is rated "M" because of my _attempted_ violence; I don't think I'm as good as most people, but please try and bear through it. Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 3: A Once Silent Grave

_The first thing that greeted Gohan when he awoke was a semi harsh light; he figured it was from some kind of bedside candle. When he looked over, he saw that he was right. The second thing that he saw was his father's relieved but frowning face; Piccolo leaning against the wall behind them. When the Namekian saw that Gohan was awake, he went out into another room. Gohan guessed that his mentor was going to alert the others that he was awake. He was brought back to the present situation by his father's voice._

_ "Gohan, why did you not listen to me?" Goku asked a hint of disappointment in his voice. He knew that this was coming; he knew that when he had flown out the door that he would get something of a speech from his father later._

_ "I needed to know," Gohan started to say, but stopped. He really couldn't remember what had first prompted him to go see what was left of his friend. Just as he started to think about Tien, the gruesome image from before he had passed out came into his mind; causing him to sit straight up as he felt a wave of nausea hit him. Goku apparently knew this would happen, going over and getting a bucket from the other room in case his son would need it._

_ "Gohan, you know that you get the same results every single time. Why can't you just let it go?" Goku asked as Gohan put his head between his knees to try and stop the sick feeling. After a while, the feeling dimmed and he was able to lie back down again; the feeling of nausea had drained what little energy he had left._

_ "I don't know," Gohan whispered as he stared at the light made by the candle casting long shadows on the walls. He knew it was a childish answer and, even though he was eleven, could not come up with a better one. He knew it was dark outside since they had the candle burning; they always kept them lit at night, but barely in case the Tako could see them. Suddenly his mind was filled with questions, but one of them stood out the most:_

Did Tien go and die just to be with Chiaotzu?

_ Gohan knew that it was a selfish thing to think, but he just happened to wonder why Tien didn't have time to come back with the others. He thought of asking his father, but he didn't want to burden him with that question. When he thought again back to Chiaotzu, forbidden memories that he thought he had locked away came rushing forth. He remembered that Chiaotzu had been one of the first victims of the Tako, dying to protect a group of people that had been attacked by the unknown creature then. Gohan felt nauseous again as Chiaotzu's dead body seemingly appeared in front of him. Broken and battered, one of the legs were missing and blood was pouring from cuts and wounds, making the once white skin turn crimson. He remembered seeing the image when they had found the former emperor after the attack. Gohan leaned over the side of the bed and retched. When he sat up again, he realized that his father had just come back from another room, looking surprised that Gohan had actually had use for the bucket. Lying down on his back, he noticed that his father just stood in the doorway with Piccolo close behind him._

_ "I torture myself too much, don't I?" Gohan asked his father with a sad smile. Goku only blinked in surprise before coming to once again sit beside his son._

_ "Gohan?" Goku asked quietly before continuing, "Did you ever think what would happen to the Lotus if the Tako would have found you… back there?"_

_ Gohan frowned in response and Goku sighed, knowing his son hadn't been thinking straight. Goku remembered flying to where his son had been and catching him before he had hit the ground. Gohan, of course, had blacked out so he didn't remember a thing, but Goku remembered feeling worried that the Tako had found him and that that might have been why his son had fainted in the first place. Even though Gohan waking up was a good sign, he could tell that his son was tired._

_ "You should get some sleep," Goku whispered to Gohan, even now seeing his son's eyes start to close. Gohan wearily nodded his head and closed his eyes, falling asleep just as the light went out._

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_ Gohan stood silently with his father and friends at a somewhat marked grave. They had decided to go and burry Tien once Gohan had been strong enough not to fall down when standing. Next to Tien's grave, another stood; the one for Chiaotzu. Once again, the question from days before came into his head, but he quickly discarded it, thinking that Tien wasn't selfish enough to do that. He looked over at the others gathered and then back at the grave, shedding silent tears. Goku motioned that they should be leaving with a nod of his head. Gohan looked back one last time at the graves before flying after the others. All the while, one thought ran through his head,_

May your graves rest in peace.

_But he knew this would not be the case. The graves would not be silent; they would be angered at the deaths of their inhabitants, crying out for the blood that would be spilled to be theirs next._

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Yeah I know, another short chapter, but at least it's a new record…. Kind of. This is the first day that I got two chapters out for the same fanfiction, so I guess you would call that a record. Anyway, please review (I know I didn't give you much time to review for the last one, so I understand).

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	4. The Threat that Never Came

Hello everyone! I know the past two chapters haven't been that eventful, but trust me; I think they will be getting longer soon. Hopefully this one might be more eventful and, if not, then next one will be. Also, next chapter will be the revealing of an OC for this fanfiction. Remember the description of the "mysterious" lady that appeared with the Tako? Remember that; it's important.

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Chapter 4: The Threat That Never Came

_Once they got back to the building, it was already nighttime; so everyone agreed that they should rest up for the night. That left Gohan some time to think about all that had happened. His thoughts were not in the present though- he didn't want to think about everything that had happened in the past few days for fear of making himself sick again- his thoughts were directed more towards around a year ago, before the Tako had come._

_ His father had told him that they were first going into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which now ceased to exist, to train for the fight against the Androids that someone named Trunks had told them about. Gohan remembered him clearly. He had guessed that Trunks had been around sixteen or eighteen and had been wearing a black sleeveless shirt, a blue jacket, and brown pants. Gohan also remembered his shock when Trunks had told them that he was from the future and that he was half- Saiyan; also relaying to them about a "heart disease" that his father was supposed to have and about the Androids. After that, everyone had set to training, including him and his father going into the Time Chamber; eventually resulting in himself being taught how to turn into a Super Saiyan. One thing he found strange was that his father had never gotten the heart disease. Trunks had given them a month that it would "supposedly" come, but as far as he was concerned, as of this date the disease still hadn't come; making them store away the medicine in their old bathroom. Even thinking about where the medicine had been made Gohan feel queasy and a bit homesick. _

_Their home, along with his mother, and been destroyed. Even though the Androids came, they still weren't that much of a disaster for another Android that came; one that called itself "Cell". Gohan shuddered; he had never met the Android, but from what his father had told him, he was sure he had a pretty good picture of the Android's final form. Cell had supposedly looked like a giant green bug, could speak, and had a tail for absorbing the other Androids. And that's precisely what the green bug did, becoming stronger with each absorption; even going so far as to hold a tournament. But the tournament never came, and Cell had just mysteriously disappeared. They hadn't known it back then, but Gohan knew that something else had probably absorbed Cell; but he was put off by everyone except his father and Piccolo. But a few months later, Gohan knew that they should have listened to him. That was then the Tako appeared, striking and killing many. First it started with Chiaotzu, and then his mother, and then billions of other people. It just didn't stop…._

_Gohan had to stop thinking; he knew that he was making himself sick because of the nausea he felt again, but some part of him didn't care. He knew this was always because of the Lotus; the same reason he always felt sick when dwelling on too many bad memories. If he got sick again, it would be the white flower's fault, not his._

_He remembered briefly sensing Cell's Ki in the Tako's when he had first sensed it; maybe that was how the savage octopus absorbed Ki, but Gohan knew that couldn't be true. The Tako would have had to have been able to absorb Ki before absorbing Cell._

Maybe it's because of that figure,_ Gohan thought as he shuddered again. He didn't know the woman's name, but the one thing he did know- that scared him- was that the figure had the same eye color of one of his friends._

Leyla, _he thought,_ I know you would never do anything like that, but why are you two so similar?

_Before he could think about it more, he felt an answer; not to the question he had been thinking, but to the Lotus. He had been feeling them all day and night for a few weeks now; sometimes they would be the reason why he couldn't get to sleep at night. He remembered when he had first found out about the Lotus; some old man had told him about it, saying that he had it in him. The old man had never told Gohan his name, but the one thing Gohan did know about him was that the grey haired man called himself one of the many "Guardians of the Lotus". Gohan knew he would have liked to find out more about the man, but he had suddenly disappeared after the Tako had come. The one thing Gohan did remember most clearly was the old man's last words to him:_

"_The Lotus frequently sends out signals to find some of its own. When you get an answer, you know who to go to."_

_Gohan hadn't understood the old man then, but he did now. He knew that he should find whoever was "calling" to him; even the Lotus was trying to tell him to, the "signals" hurting more each night. But he didn't want to tell anyone about them, not even his father. Of course, Gohan knew his daddy also knew about the Lotus, but some part of him was telling him not to share what he knew. So he didn't tell anyone. But Gohan was also reluctant to find whoever was sending back the signals. He didn't know if they would be a friend or not; or even if it was the figure just messing with him. But as he felt sleep closing his eyes, he made a vow:_

Just hang on, sometime I will find you. Just not yet.

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Yeah sorry I know, I take back what I said about this chapter being eventful. Also, I forgot to put this in the other author's notes, but I don't accept flames, only constructive criticism and comments. Sorry, sometimes I'm really forgetful, but now that you know that, on to more important stuff. I do have some questions for you: Who do you think is Leyla? And who do you think is sending signals back to the Lotus? These questions will be answered soon, but until then, please review.

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	5. As One Friend Comes, Another Goes

Hi everyone, hope your excited! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This chapter will hopefully answer some of the questions you have in your head. Don't worry; I will explain a bit more at the end of this chapter. Please enjoy!

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Chapter 5: As One Friend Comes, Another Goes

_Gohan was trying hard not to fall asleep, but it was kind of hard since he had gotten next to none the night before. Maybe only two or three hours, but it still wasn't much. He was sitting outside of the building that they had been calling home for a while now; for some reason the Tako couldn't destroy this area yet, either that, or it was blind. Suddenly he heard a voice call his name._

_ "Gohan!"_

_ He looked over at the figure running towards him and stood up, smiling. The girl was wearing dirty blue shorts, black running shoes, and a semi-white t-shirt. She had medium length black hair that came down a little bit past her shoulders. The girl reached him and knew that something was on his mind._

_ "Gohan is everything ok?" she asked, concern coating her voice. He was currently staring down at the ground, not trying to make it obvious that he wasn't trying to look at her._

_ "Yeah, everything's fine Leyla," he replied, but she seemed to guess otherwise. _

_ "Gohan, please look at me and tell me truthfully," Leyla pleaded. His head shot up and he stared into her crimson eyes._

_ "You know I wouldn't lie to you," he stated quickly, but stopped himself from looking away. Her eyes always seemed to haunt him now, since they were so similar to the figure's. But he knew that there was a difference between the woman and his friend: Leyla's eyes showed kindness. Leyla seemed to guess why he was bothered and stared down at the ground, breaking their gaze._

_ "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, I forgot. It's just that…" she seemed to stumble and as he looked at her, she seemed like she was crying, the moist liquid gathering at her eyes._

_ "No, that's not…" he started, but got frustrated at his own lack of speech, "I should be the one who's sorry! I shouldn't think like that! You're my friend…"_

_ She looked up at him sympathetically before wiping the moisture from her eyes._

_ "It's ok, don't worry about it," she stated before she gave him a half-hearted smile. He smiled back, but then wondered something._

_ "What did you want to see me for?" Gohan asked, before getting playfully punched in the arm by Leyla._

_ "Silly, it's been a long time since I've seen you," she stated, making them both smile. But apparently she had also remembered something else since her eyes lit up, "Oh yeah, follow me!"_

_ She started to run and Gohan followed after her, wondering what she was so excited about. He didn't know her reason for running since she knew how to fly, but he guessed that she was so excited that she probably forgot that she could fly. As they were running, Gohan noticed that they left the area where the Tako couldn't get them and went beyond._

Hope I'm not making a mistake by doing this,_ he thought as he remembered his father's words to him a few nights before. After a while, they arrived at what looked to be an old town in ruins, stone houses now piles of rocks. Only one house stood._

_ "Come on, follow me," Leyla prodded as she walked inside the stone house. Even though it was the only one standing, Gohan saw that it still was pretty damaged._

_ "Where are we going?" Gohan asked as he followed Leyla into the house and saw her start to remove some stones away from one of the inner walls of the house._

_ "Don't worry, everything is fine," she answered, still leaving Gohan to wonder where they were. He suddenly was very conscious of a loud pounding, and he realized with dread that it was the Lotus again._

No, not now,_ he thought, _stop it stupid flower.

_ He leaned back against the wall, suddenly feeling too weak to support himself. He felt like he was going to fall through the house when someone supported him. He looked over and saw that Leyla was trying to hold him up._

_ "Are you feeling ok?" she asked, and he could tell instantly that she had regretted coming here._

_ "Yeah, I'm fine. Just 'another problem'," he stated, realizing that the pounding had suddenly stopped. Leyla nodded, knowing what he meant, and went back to removing stones. Gohan had told her about the Lotus before, and 'another problem' was their code word for something having to deal with the white flower. Gohan was still confused though._

That's strange,_ he thought was he continued to watch his friend remove stones,_ that's happened before, but not that bad.

_ He was jolted out of his thoughts by Leyla's voice._

_ "Come look," she said, motioning over to the hole where the rocks had been. Gohan walked over and bent down, realizing that the hole was just big enough to fit through. He peered farther into the hole and saw an old staircase that led down into the darkness. Gohan saw Leyla start to crawl through the hole, and some part of him started to grow uncomfortable._

_ "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked as she turned to look at him. Her black hair was covering some of her face and her crimson eyes seemed to glow. Involuntarily, his heart beat sped up with the sudden fear he started to feel, but he was brought back to reality when he realized he was looking at Leyla._

_ "Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry, I've been here before," she stated before starting to walk down the stairs, leaving Gohan to follow her while wondering when she could have visited this place. He followed her down the stairs, not failing to notice that he could see clearly. He was about to wonder how, but he then realized the yellow aura around himself and realized that he was in Super Saiyan. He shook his head, disbelieving of how dense he could be at times. Leyla looked back at him, probably making sure that he was following. Gohan didn't fail to notice that they had been walking for a long time. He was just about to ask how much farther they had to walk when he heard the sound of running water. Leyla stopped at the bottom and Gohan almost ran into her. He was about to say something when he saw what was in front of him, leaving him speechless._

_ They were in an underground cave, Gohan was sure of it, but he couldn't tell for how long it had been existing. Clear glowing water ran in small tributaries from other caves, all of them connecting to this one. Leyla started to walk towards something in the middle of the cave. Gohan followed and, when they got to the middle, stood beside Leyla. The sight that greeted his eyes seemed familiar, but he couldn't really place where or when he had seen it. There was a huge underground pond of the clear water with clear blue crystals lining the rim were the water didn't pour in._

_ "How did you find this place?" Gohan asked as he stared over at his friend, realizing that the water lit up the place._

_ "I just went exploring one day and came upon this building. I had found it odd that it was the only one still standing, sort of like our home," Leyla whispered, "I thought you might have known something about it." _

"_I feel like I've seen it before, but I don't know where," he stated, staring at the water. Something seemed really familiar about this place, he just didn't know what._

"_Oh…" came Leyla's disheartened response. He thought something was bothering her and was going to ask when a Ki spiked up in his head. He stood up suddenly and turned towards the entrance, sensing that the Ki was near here. He could tell Leyla was surprised when he had suddenly stood up, but he didn't care. He started to run towards the entrance._

"_Gohan, what's wrong?" Leyla asked, Gohan not failing to notice the fear in her eyes._

"_I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad," he stated before starting to run up the stairs. He heard her hurried footsteps that confirmed she was following. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He felt like he knew the Ki he sensed, but he couldn't identify it since his head had just started to buzz with the sudden nervousness he felt. When he got to the top of the stairs, he hit his head on the top of the hole, making him stop and bite his lip at the sting it left. Gohan's head started to clear as the pain did and he suddenly recognized the Ki._

"_Gohan, what is going on?" he heard Leyla's voice come from behind him. She sounded scared, and he knew why, but right now the danger wasn't coming for them._

"_Leyla, Yamcha is in trouble," he stated simply, but then turned around to face her, making sure that she would follow what he would say next, "I need you to go back home. Go back home and wait. I need to help him."_

_Leyla started to shake her head._

"_No, I'm not leaving you to face that thing alone…" she started, but Gohan cut her off to try and save time._

"_Please Leyla, just listen. You need to go home. I won't be alone, I'm sure by now that my dad and the others know," he stated and started to walk out the door. A hand on his shoulder made him stop._

"_Gohan, fine I'll go home, but if you go and die I swear you are going to be in trouble," Leyla forced out and Gohan saw that she was crying again._

"_Leyla, don't worry. It takes a lot more to kill me than an overgrown octopus," he smiled at her before flying towards the Ki. He was relieved when he felt Leyla's Ki move off in the direction they had originally came from. When he was about half way there, he heard his father's voice in his head,_

Gohan, turn around.

No,_ he answered simply as he kept flying. They had all learned how to communicate through their minds, but it sometimes bothered him._

Gohan, listen. I am not going to have you getting sick again,_ his father stated sternly. Gohan didn't stop flying though; already realizing with a sickening feeling that Yamcha's Ki was dropping._

I don't care. I want to help,_ he answered stubbornly._

Gohan, you're not going to be able to help much if your dead…_ his father said, but was cut off by another voice in Gohan's head._

Goku you are obviously not helping much,_ he heard Piccolo say to his father, but then the voice was directed at him,_ Gohan your father is right. You should just go back and wait for us with your friend.

_Gohan felt his face heat up a bit at the mention of Leyla._

How do you…?_ He started but Piccolo cut him off._

You don't really want to know what goes through your head unconsciously, do you?_ Piccolo answered, making Gohan shudder. There were no more voices after that; Gohan figured that they probably decided he wasn't going to listen either way. When he saw a spec in the distance, he sped up, quickly coming upon where his friends were. His vision started to swim as his head throbbed. Images assaulted his vision; images of the underground lake, the battle, the scene in front of him. He knew it wouldn't have stopped, but they did when he felt something hard smack into his side, sending him flying to the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw blurred images of his friends and something else, something much bigger. As his vision started to clear, he saw his father and Piccolo staring at him with relief and confusion on their faces, Krillin and Vegeta getting smacked around, and the Tako holding Yamcha in some kind of death grip._

The Tako?_ Gohan thought with confusion, but then fear as he saw the scene unfold before him. Something loud assaulted his ears, something that made him want to cover them it was that loud, until he realized that it was Yamcha screaming. Gohan didn't know what to do, so he just sat there staring at what was happening, taking in his surroundings. The Tako had its tentacles wrapped around Yamcha, but one of them looked like it was sticking into his side; Gohan's idea was confirmed as he saw blood dripping from where the tentacle was. A blue sort of liquid was running from Yamcha and into the Tako, where it combined and turned red. Gohan then realized that Yamcha's Ki was being sucked out of him. Gohan felt his stomach give a half-hearted effort and he puked on the ground. His head jerked back up as the screaming continued and he felt Yamcha's Ki drop. His friend's head went limp as the Ki left him; the Tako discarding its prey as it threw the former warrior into a pile of rubble. Gohan then felt his heart stop as the Tako turned around and sensed him. Even though it didn't have eyes, Gohan was sure that it was looking at him. He started to back away, but stopped when he felt his head start to almost explode. Gohan knew that he couldn't move and just as the Tako was going to grab him, he felt someone lift him up and carry him away. When the pain in his head ceased, he opened his eyes and saw his father holding him, confusion written on his face._

"_What?" Gohan asked in confusion at the relief in his father's eyes._

"_Gohan, we thought you were dead. We couldn't sense your Ki anymore," his father stated softly, confusing Gohan with his statement._

"_You couldn't… what?" he asked, still confused. He saw his father shake his head, but then looked over when Piccolo started to talk._

"_Goku, get him out of here," Piccolo stated as he stared at Gohan. Gohan cringed slightly, knowing that when his friends got back that he would get in trouble. He saw his father nod before they started to fly off. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound of everything behind him._

* * *

_Gohan didn't know how to handle the rest of the day. He knew that Yamcha was dead, even bluntly telling Leyla when she came to see is he was ok. He knew that his real troubles would begin when everyone else got back. He was lying on his bed talking to Leyla when Piccolo and Goku entered the room._

"_Leyla, could you please go home? We need to talk to Gohan," Goku stated as nicely as he could, but Gohan knew that his father was holding back rage. Leyla nodded while sending a sad look at Gohan. As soon as she exited the building, Gohan got up from his bed. He was about to say something when he felt his cheek burn, the force sending him backwards. He brought his hand up to where it stung and realized that Piccolo had hit him._

"_What was that for?" Gohan demanded angrily. He realized that Piccolo was staring at him hard._

"_For almost getting yourself killed," his mentor replied shortly. Goku put a hand on the Namekian's shoulder, and then his mentor left the room, leaving him alone with his father._

"_Gohan, were you trying to play some kind of joke today?" his father whispered just loud enough for him to hear._

"_What?" Gohan asked, confused by what was being said. He stared at his father and saw concern in his father's eyes._

"_Gohan today your power level completely left our senses. Did you hide your power level or something?" Goku asked._

"_No, I was flying towards you guys," he answered, becoming even more confused. His father sighed before sitting down in a chair next to the bed. Gohan didn't sit down though; he was feeling too awkward about this situation. Suddenly, he knew what his father was going to say._

"_You don't have to tell me what happened today," Gohan whispered harshly. For some reason, he felt like he was losing his temper, and bad part was that it was happening fast. His father stared at him for a moment before responding._

"_Gohan, sometimes you have to face the truth…" Goku stated but Gohan interrupted._

"_I have been facing the truth, dad! And I'm tired of it! I hate having to see everyone die! I hate that I can't help them!" he nearly screamed at his father as tears slid down his face. His father's eyes widened at Gohan's sudden increase in anger, but then came to pull his son into a hug._

"_Gohan…" Goku started, but was startled when Gohan pushed away._

"_No… no more," Gohan whispered, not really sure of what he was saying, "no more."_

_And with that, he ran out of the house and into the night._

* * *

So, how did you like it? Leyla is an OC just in case you were confused about that. Sorry that I was a bit late in updating this, I just released "No Restrictions" (my first Naruto fanfiction) and I have been trying to work on Chapter 12 of "I Need You". Don't worry though; the next chapter should be out soon. So, where do you think Gohan is going? Once again, I hope you enjoyed and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	6. I Have Found You

Hi everyone! Sorry, I just couldn't really wait to get this one out. Once again, there will be the appearance of another OC in this chapter. I'll explain more at the end of the chapter, but I hope you enjoy!

**MissieMidget1204:** Thanks! Yeah, this story is going to be a lot more different than the anime. I think you might like this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 6: I Have Found You

_ Gohan didn't know where he was going, but he continued to run; the night air stinging his skin. Tears fell from his eyes as he remembered the conversation he had just had with his father moments before. He knew that they would be looking for him, so this time he did mask his power level, not really wanting anyone to find him. He kept on running and when he had the sense enough to calm down a bit, looked where his feet had taken him. He looked around and realized that he was at the old ruined town that Leyla and him had been at earlier. He walked towards the house and to the hole in the wall, remembering that they really didn't have the time to cover it up. He was going to power up to Super Saiyan but, as he started to walk down the stairs, realized that there was a bright blue glowing on the walls emanated from the water below in the lake. As he continued to walk, he started to hear noises, almost like someone was crying._

Leyla?_ Was his first guess, but then he remembered that she had went home. But some part of his mind was telling him that Leyla could have listened in to their conversation and gotten upset. But he knew that was highly unlikely, and he was growing worried about who could be down at the lake. He was about to continue walking down the stairs when he stopped because the Lotus started to send out signals again._

Not now,_ he mentally groaned, but then stopped as he felt a signal back. What was confusing to him was that the signal felt very close. He continued walking, wondering if the signal was coming from the person at the lake below him. He cautiously peered out from the end of the steps, looking near the small pond in the middle. He saw a girl sitting by the pond, shoulders shaking and curled into a protective position. Gohan felt the Lotus send out another signal._

Can you just be quiet?_ He kind of wished the white flower would actually answer him, even though that would be kind of strange. In a way, it did answer him, with a received signal. The girl looked back to where Gohan was 'hiding', almost like she knew that he was there. He could see that her face was stained with tears, her curly light blonde hair almost covering it in shame. Gohan instantly wished that he could turn invisible, but he knew that that was impossible so he started to walk towards where the girl was._

_ "How did you find this place?" he asked uncertainly. The girl gave him a look before answering softly._

_ "I have always known of this place," she answered, her voice barely a whisper. He was confused by her statement, even more so of her immediate comfort around him. She patted the ground beside her, signaling for him to sit beside her. He did what she wanted, sitting down and trailing his feet above the clear water; now even more confused by his own comfort around her._

_ "Where did you come from? Where is your family?" Gohan asked softly. She looked down at the water before answering him,_

_ "I do not know where I came from. The rest are gone."_

_ "What is your name?" he asked hesitantly, but then quickly added, "My name's Gohan."_

_ "Gohan," the girl repeated while she stared into his eyes, as if memorizing his entire existence with her clear blue eyes, "My name is Marie."_

_ He nodded, somewhat satisfied with her answer. They say in silence for a while, Gohan not knowing while to say while Marie played with her white dress and swung her feet in the water._

_ "You've been looking for me?" she suddenly asked. I was confused by what she said and Marie seemed to know, so she continued, "you promised that you would find me."_

I promised?_ I wondered, but then I remembered the night before, when the signals had kept me awake most of the night. Right before I actually got some sleep, some part of remembered promising exactly what Marie had just said._

_ "You're right," I stated, amazed at how she knew, "but how did you hear?"_

_ "The Lotus told me," she stated simply. Some part of me shouldn't have been surprised, but I couldn't help it._

_ "The Lotus?" he repeated in the form of a question. She nodded._

_ "I'm just like you," Marie whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder, completely content. He just sat like that for a while, staring at her as her breathing slowed. His gaze wandered to the pond in front of them, shining brighter than when he had first seen it. He then looked back at Marie and smiled._

_ "I guess I have found you."_

* * *

Yeah, I'm sorry; I know it's shorter than the others, but please bear with me. The next chapter will be out soon. So, now you know who is sending the signals back. I do have a question for you though: what do you think will happen to Gohan next? (I mean, he did just run away from home with a giant octopus out to kill him) Either way, I hope you enjoyed it and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	7. The Power of Plants

Hope everyone is excited for this chapter! Now we will get to see what kind of punishment (if any) Gohan will get. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 7: The Power of Plants

_Gohan woke up to the sound of hurried feet. He was currently lying on the floor of the cave. He jolted up from where he was lying and didn't see Marie. A second later, he heard a familiar voice._

_ "Gohan!"_

_ He looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Leyla was running towards him, light filtering in from the stairs._

I fell asleep all night without having a disturbance,_ the realization startled him a bit, but then he wondered where Marie went._

_ "Gohan, are you okay? When you dad and friends told me that you suddenly ran off last night after I left I thought…" his friend stated quickly and Gohan could already sense that she was nervous. Of course, Leyla didn't know how to sense Ki so she didn't know what emotions she was portraying through hers._

_ "Yeah, I'm fine Leyla," he started to say, but was interrupted by another voice._

_ "Leyla, could you please back away from Gohan," he heard his father's voice say. He looked near the entrance of the stairs and saw the remaining Z Fighters standing with his father, each looking increasingly nervous. Leyla's eyes widened when she saw them and looked frantically back at Gohan._

_ "I didn't know they followed me here…" she started frantically, but Gohan gave her an understanding look. She backed up a bit. He suddenly sensed Marie's Ki hiding somewhere behind him, fear radiating off of it. Apparently, his father and the other Z Fighters sensed Marie's Ki as well because Goku looked in the direction that the Ki came from. Gohan looked behind him and saw Marie quickly duck her head behind a rock. He walked over to where the rock was and went behind it, seeing Marie hiding with a look of fear on her face._

_ "Gohan, who is that?" his father's voice came through behind him with a hint of caution. Gohan quickly turned around and got in a defensive position in front of Marie._

_ "I won't let you hurt her…" he growled, earning him a confused look from his father._

_ "What do you mean? I wouldn't hurt her," Goku stated, confused at his son's actions. Gohan just continued giving him a glare before taking a deep breath. He then turned around and looked at Marie. She was now standing up, but she kept fidgeting with her white dress._

_ "It's ok Marie," Gohan stated softly, "you don't have to be afraid. These are my friends and dad."_

_ "Friends?" Marie repeated the word while putting her head to the side, as if what he had just said was foreign to her. She then nodded her head. Gohan turned around and gave his dad an almost sheepish grin. His father looked just about confused as he felt about his new friend. _

_When he felt Marie's Ki move closer to theirs, he was going to turn around but stopped when he realized that she was right behind him, looking over his shoulder at his father. He gasped a bit in surprise and felt his feet stumble over themselves, falling back a bit, only to be caught by his father. He looked up when he realized that he hadn't hit the ground, only to see his dad laughing a bit at his behavior. It was then that Gohan realized that he was blushing._

_Apparently Leyla also saw Gohan blushing since she came over and stood beside his father, looking at Marie with a look on her face that Gohan couldn't quite read._

"_Who are you?" Leyla asked, and Gohan could detect a bit of jealousy behind her voice; but he was confused why his close friend would feel that way. Marie didn't answer; she just continued to stare at Gohan. When he gave a nod, she looked at Leyla._

"_Marie," she answered softly, making Gohan wonder why she was acting so shy. He looked up at Leyla and then back at Marie. His new friend was staring at the ground, looking as if she wanted to be invisible. Leyla, on the other hand, had a somewhat frustrated look on her face. He sighed, knowing he might be forever perplexed at his two friends' behaviors._

_He suddenly felt very tired, relaxing in his father's hold. He looked through parted eyes at the changing scenery before closing his eyes in sleep._

* * *

_ "I'm under what?" Gohan asked with a bit of defiance and disbelief in his voice. Goku sighed before explaining again._

_ "You could call it 'house arrest', or in this case 'bedroom confinement," his father stated, trying to keep from laughing at his unintended joke. Gohan sat down on his bed and bit his lip in frustration._

_ "Why?" was his request, although with the way he was feeling, he thought of it more as a command._

_ "For running off," his father stated. Gohan sighed._

All I did was go for a run and stay somewhere overnight and this is what I get?_ He thought with a slight bit of anger. Another part of his mind reminded him of something though,_ Yeah, with a giant killer octopus on the loose trying to kill you. Just normal stuff.

_ He was about to voice his thoughts to his father when the door peeped open a bit, revealing Marie's face._

_ "Can stay in here?" she asked while she stared uncertainly at Gohan. Marie was now living with them since she could remember nothing about her past and they couldn't find her parents. His friends had been trying to set up an empty room for her to stay in._

_ "Marie, Gohan is in 'bedroom confinement'," his father stated slowly. Gohan wanted to mentally smack himself, but almost started to laugh in disbelief at his friend's response._

_ "Well, can I be in 'bedroom confinement' with him?" she asked naively. Gohan gave a small smile at her response, looking over at his father while noticing the frustrated look on his face._

_ "No Marie you can't," his father stated. Marie gave a small frown on her confused face._

_ "Why?" she asked while tilting her head, making her blond hair move with the action. Gohan had come to realize that his new friend might actually be more naïve and innocent than his own father. Right now, this particular situation seemed to prove his theory._

_ "Gohan needs to be alone for right now. And besides, there is only one bed," Goku stated, hoping to get her to realize that she shouldn't be in here, but that apparently didn't work._

_ "I can sleep on the floor," Marie stated simply as she walked into the room and sat beside Gohan on the bed. He was somewhat surprised since he felt that this was her way of being defiant._

_ "No Marie, you are not going to sleep on the floor. Now come on," his father said as he came over and took Marie's hand, turning around and apparently wanting to bring the small girl with him. He felt Marie stiffen beside him, almost as if she was going to refuse. But after a few moments, his friend follow suit and left the room, closing the door behind her._

_ Gohan sighed, hoping his new friend wouldn't be that much trouble. The next moment, he knew that this was going to be a bad night. He heard footsteps in the hallway and heard his father's voice._

_ "Marie, where are you going?" his father asked and Gohan noted the confusion in his words. He heard the footsteps stop right outside his door and then heard his friend's voice._

_ "I'm going to sleep here," Marie stated and he realized that she had just laid right down beside his doorway._

_ "Marie, like I said in the room, you're not going to sleep on the floor," his father answered and Gohan knew that his father was trying not to lose his patience. For some unknown reason, this brought a small smile to Gohan's face._

_ "I'm not sleeping on the floor, I have the blanket under me," Marie stated with some defiance in his voice._

_ "Marie…" Goku stated but then was interrupted by Gohan's voice._

_ "You might as well just let her. I don't think she's going to budge from the way it sounds," Gohan yelled out from on his bed, trying not to laugh at his friend's behavior. He heard his father's footsteps fade, signifying that he had taken Gohan's suggestion._

_ The next few hours were the hardest for him. He knew it was late in the night; he had slept through the whole day when they had gotten back. He knew that he couldn't get to sleep now; his mind was too alert to even try. So he sat on his bed, seemingly staring at the wall. He was then curious if Marie had actually stayed by his door all this time. He was towards the door and opened it silently; the small figure laying beside the door an answer to his question. Marie suddenly looked up at him, blue eyes open wide to confirm that she hadn't been sleeping. Gohan didn't know what compelled him to speak; maybe it was the way she was looking up at him from the floor._

_ "Come on," he whispered softly while motioning with his hand pointing into his room. Marie nodded silently and stood up; bringing the light blue blanket she had been sleeping on with her. When in the room, he closed the door and then turned around before seeing Marie sitting on the floor._

_ "Marie, you sleep in the bed. I'll sleep on the floor, ok?" he stated softly, but was quite confused when he received a shake of her head as a "no"._

_ "I'll sleep right here," Marie whispered softly as she patted the ground in front of her._

_ "Marie, as much as I don't like having to tell you this, but I agree with my dad on this one. I won't let you sleep on the floor," Gohan stated, but was surprised at her confused look._

_ "I'm not going to sleep on the floor…" she started, but Gohan cut her off, seemingly knowing what she would say next._

_ "Marie, sleeping on a blanket on the floor does not count as not sleeping on the floor," he said. He then looked at her. She was tracing her finger along the ground._

_ "I'm not sleeping on the blanket either," Marie said in a soft tone, staring at what she was tracing. Gohan also looked and saw that it was the shape of some kind of flower._

_ "What are you going to sleep on then?" he asked, quite confused at what she meant. She looked up at him and then back down at the floor._

_ "Do you mind if I…?" she started then shook her head, making Gohan wonder if she knew that he wouldn't understand anyway. She then got up and kneeled on her knees, tracing the floor with the flower again. Then she traced outwards into the air, almost in a waving motion. From where her hands traced, giant green leaves appeared until her hand stopped and moved on to another leaf. When the six leaves were done, she place her hands into the joining section of each one and spread her hands outward again, pick flower petals following the flowing motion. When she was done, a huge pink flower had formed next to his bed. She stared at him for a response, but Gohan was at a loss for words. She seemed to understand and tried to help by talking first._

_ "I'm going to sleep here," she stated with a smile._

_ "Ok," he stated in amazement, not sure what else to say. Marie nodded and lied down in the middle of the flower. Gohan was telling himself not to be surprised by anything else, but that failed when he saw two of the petals fall over his friend, almost acting like a blanket. He shook his head and then went to lie down in his own bed._

_ "Why didn't you just do that in the hallway?" he asked when he was situated._

_ "I figured you didn't want a giant flower in your small hallway," she stated simply. That made him laugh a bit, imagining them all tripping on the giant petals._

_ "Agreed," he said before the room lapsed into silence. Before he went to sleep, he found himself wondering just what else his new friend could actually do._

* * *

Yep, so Gohan is under 'bedroom confinement'. Random question: Is it just me or does Marie remind you of Yeul from Final Fantasy? Just wondered about that. Either way, hope you enjoyed and please review.

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	8. Something about Today

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I do think that Marie is adorable, but she can be a bit dangerous at times. That will be revealed soon though.

* * *

Chapter 8: Something about Today

_ Gohan woke up the next morning with Marie about an inch away from his face. Somehow he did not find this very odd for her to do, just a bit disturbing._

_ "Um Marie, what are you doing?" he asked, now fully awake. His friend only smiled and stood up._

_ "You're awake," she said, not really answering his question. He shrugged and sat up in his bed, dangling his feet over the edge. Marie was currently sitting on the huge flower that she had "made" the night before. He stood up and went over to open the door, but suddenly it came speeding towards him, smacking him in the face._

_ "Ouch," he said as he rubbed the place where the door hit his head. The floor then got really dizzy and he started to fall back. Marie, not realizing the mistake she was making, stood up and tried to catch him. She did not realize that Gohan was heavier than her before they both fell backwards and ended up sitting on the flower._

_ "Ouch," both of them said at the same time, even though the flower was soft. Gohan then realized that the reason Marie had stated her pain was because he was now sitting on her. He quickly got up, feeling the heat burning his face._

_ "I'm sorry Marie," he said quickly, "are you ok?"_

_ She stared at him for a moment before answering._

_ "Yep," she stated happily while she smiled, confusing Gohan greatly with her sudden change of mood. He didn't have time to reply though because when he turned around, he was met with a somewhat angered and confused Goku._

_ "Gohan, why is Marie in here?" his father asked while looking at the girl who was now sitting down._

_ "Well, I couldn't just let her sleep on the floor…" he started, trying not to start laughing at the situation._

_ "Then what did she…?" his father ask as both of them turned around to see Marie staring at them innocently while sitting on the flower. Goku stared at Gohan for an explanation._

_ "Gohan, how did that get in here?" his father asked while pointing at the huge pink flower. He had to resist the urge to laugh again, not quite sure how to explain it to his father when he didn't really understand it himself._

_ "Marie?" he asked as he looked at his friend, both of them smiling sheepishly. She looked down at the flower and then up at Goku._

_ "I made it," she stated while smiling, making it even harder for Gohan to not start laughing at his friend's behavior. Goku stared at Marie like she had just said that she had blown up the world, then staring at Gohan with a questioning look._

_ "Gohan…" his father started but Gohan interrupted him._

_ "Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to believe, but it's true," he said while he looked at his friend before adding one thing, "I'm a living witness."_

_ Goku shook his head and then answered while walking out the door._

_ "Gohan, you're still on bedroom confinement. And Marie, I guess I can't stop you from staying with him…"_

_ The voice trailed off as the footsteps faded. Gohan stared at the wide open door before walking over and closing it before sitting back down on his bed, Marie giving him a confused look._

_ "Gohan, want to play?" Marie asked as she stood up and came to sit beside him on the bed._

_ "No Marie, I'm supposed to stay in here," he said while shaking his head, making his friend frown a bit._

_ "But don't you want to go outside?" Marie asked while pointing at the closed door._

_ "Yeah I do," he answered, "but I'm not allowed to."_

_ Marie seemed to pout for a moment before walking over and sitting near the window, soaking up the little rays of light coming in from it._

_ "But I like the sun…" she started but then stopped, an unreadable expression coming onto her face. Then she smiled,_

_ "Ok we can stay in here."_

_ Gohan didn't quite know what to think about that. He knew it wasn't fair if he was supposed to stay inside and his friend didn't have to, but he knew Marie might not want him to stay in his bedroom alone._

_ "It's ok Marie. You go on outside," he said in a happy tone while closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he was met with an unhappy Marie._

_ "No," she stated while sitting down on the floor, her hands on her bent knees._

_ "Marie, it's ok. I'm fine. You can go outside," he tried to convince her, but apparently it wasn't working._

_ "No, I'm going to wait for you," she said stubbornly. Gohan sighed, knowing that this was getting them nowhere. He looked at the flower and then thought of something._

_ "Hey Marie, how did you make that flower?" he asked, attempting to change the subject. Apparently it worked because Marie came and sat down beside the pink plant and patted the floor beside her, motioning for him to sit there. He got off of his bed and sat where she wanted him to._

_ "The Lotus," she said in a soft tone. He looked over at her, confused at what she said._

_ "What do you mean?" he asked while looking at her. Marie's blue eyes darted up to his for a moment before she answered._

_ "The Lotus controls nature and is a supplier of life," Marie explained, looking back over at him to make sure that he understood. Gohan nodded, telling her to continue._

_ "Lotus hosts are connected, knowing what each one feels and wants. Lotus hosts can also share memories and feelings," Marie said softly but when she said that, Gohan felt like another Ki was near them. Marie instantly stood up and started glaring at the wall, Gohan following her gaze. After a few moments, she relaxed and Gohan couldn't feel the Ki anymore. Both of them sat down again._

_ "Why don't you try?" Marie asked, surprising Gohan a bit._

_ "Try what?" he asked, but Marie stared at the flower and then back at him._

_ "Making a flower," she stated. Gohan nodded, but then thought of something._

_ "Shouldn't we remove this flower first?" he asked while patting the huge plant. Marie shook her head._

_ "No, we can't 'remove' it. It will wilt when it runs out of life, but until then, it's stuck here. That's also why I didn't make it in the hallway. Also, I think you will only be able to make a small one," Marie said and then stood up, walking over to the foot of his bed and sitting down on the floor. He followed her, wondering why she had moved. She seemed guarded, almost as if she knew someone was listening._

_ "Right here," she stated in a soft tone, patting at the floor in front of her, "just concentrate."_

_ Gohan put his hands where she told him and closed his eyes. After a few minutes of just sitting there, he peeked his eyes open, expecting to see a flower in front of him. But all he saw was the same floor and Marie. He looked over at his friend._

_ "Why isn't it working?" he asked. He thought he had been doing everything right, but now he didn't know what was wrong. Marie closed her eyes and thought for a moment._

_ "Try thinking about the flower. It's not just enough to try, you need to know," she answered before patting the floor again. He nodded and then closed his eyes again, this time trying to do as his friend had instructed. He started to see a faint image of something in his head and concentrated on it; seeing blue and green overlap. His eyes jolted open as soon as he felt all his energy pour out of him. He saw Marie smiling at him before he collapsed; the green and blue finally taking form._

* * *

_ Gohan opened his eyes to slight darkness; the only light in the room being a small sliver cast by the moon. He groaned and clutched at his head as he sat up, then hearing light footsteps coming towards him. He wearily looked over to see Marie smiling at him. He smiled back as best as he could._

_ "Come see," she said as she motioned for him to lean over his bed. He did as she told him to and saw a shape on the ground. It was a dark blue color with green vines sprouting into the floor. But something was wrong with it, its petals were lying limp and it looked as if it were…_

_ "Dead," he stated as he stared at the now lifeless flower. Marie nodded and he thought he saw sadness reflected in her blue eyes._

_ "Yes, it left just after you passed out, but I thought you wanted to see it," she said, making Gohan have mixed emotions. He was thankful that his friend had saved his first 'made' flower for him, but he was also made that it had died._

_ "First thing I make, and it goes and dies," he declared while sitting up, but he didn't fail to notice that Marie flinched when he had said "dies". He stared at her, noticing for once that her light blue eyes looked a bit dull._

_ "Marie, are you ok?" he asked, concerned of the way that she was looking, almost as if he wasn't there. She stared at him for a few seconds before smiling weakly._

_ "Yeah I'm fine," she said, but then stopped, walking up to where he was._

_ "What?" he asked, confused at the way she was staring at him. She shook her head._

_ "Can you walk?" she answered him with a question and, at his nod, grabbed his hand and gently pulled him over to the window. It was then that he realized that the window was slightly cracked._

_ "Come on," she said as she opened the window and slid out, "we are going for a walk."_

_ "But I thought that I am not supposed to…" Gohan started, but stopped when he was interrupted by Marie._

_ "They don't know the needs of a plant," she stated simply, but then stopped when she felt her foot slip. Gohan lunged forward and caught her arm but was then pulled down with her. Gohan thought that hitting the ground from the height away from his window would hurt, but he was surprised when he heard an "ouch" from below him. At first he thought that he was sitting on Marie again so he looked down and saw Leyla._

_ "Leyla, what are you doing here?" he asked in a hushed tone after they all were standing._

_ "Um, I was just coming to check on you," she stated nervously as her red eyes darted to Marie, taking on a harsh tint, "and I didn't know that _she_ was living with you."_

_ He was about to reply when he heard noises from above them. He shook his head to silence the two, hearing the footsteps grow louder._

_ "Follow me," Marie whispered as she started to run across the grass. He heard the noise of a jammed door from behind them and realized that Marie had probably locked the door. They ran out of the town until Gohan's shoes struck rock. Gohan stopped and tried to catch his breath, the others doing the same until they could all talk again._

_ "Well, I think we are far away enough," Leyla said while looking around at their surroundings, "where are we?"_

_ "I don't know," he said. They were in a rocky landscape that had lots of deep falls and sharp rocks, "but where ever we are, I don't like it."_

_ Marie just nodded, but she started to walk around anyway. Gohan and Leyla followed. He felt guarded; something was not right here. There was barely any noise; even the grasshoppers were absent from this place. _

_They all stopped at the edge of another crevice. Marie and Leyla started to walk away, but before Gohan could follow them, he felt a searing pain flash through his right side. He instinctively put his hand down to see if there was any blood, but he felt none, only that insistent pain._

_Marie had obviously felt that he was in pain because she had turned to look at him. Leyla soon followed, but with a confused look on her face since she didn't know what was going on. Marie had just opened her mouth to say something, but then time seemed to stop when Gohan saw her grow deathly pale, staring at something behind him. His eyes widened and just before he turned around, the ground beneath him cracked open and where he had been standing was now sent down into the crevice, him along with it._

_He knew he heard something, maybe a scream, but he couldn't make anything out. He knew that he had to fly, but the pain in his side was not allowing him to focus his Ki. Before he could even think, his body slammed into something hard and his vision turned dark; the only constant thing being the pain in his side._

* * *

"_Gohan!" both Leyla and herself screamed at the same time. She had seen it, seen it just before the cliff gave way and sent Gohan tumbling down to the ground below. Glowing red and white, it had been watching her. It had embedded itself in the rock bed where Gohan had been standing, but when the rocks had given way, it had vanished._

Was it just my imagination?_ Marie thought, her heart still thumping with fear. She was going to try and shut everything out when a fierce shaking of her shoulder got her attention._

"_What?" she asked as she turned to look at the owner of the hand ready to hand out a tirade, but she stopped when she saw clear and crimson mixing together._

"_We _need_ to get down there," Leyla said in a whisper and Marie could tell that the girl was shaking as bad as she was. She nodded and started to jump down onto the rocks, controlling the vines in the earth below to make an area when they couldn't get down._

_They finally landed on the harsh ground below and Marie instantly knew something was wrong. She didn't feel it; the signals that had been constantly sent back by the other Lotus. She saw Leyla start to run forward but then the girl tripped, sending dirt and rocks into the air. Marie went over to see if the girl was okay, but Leyla shoved her away despite the gash on her knee._

_Marie ran forward and bent beside Gohan, who was now lying still on the ground. She put her hand on his arm and stopped, feeling how cold he already was._

Flowers that are wilting are cold, losing all light and nutrients that keep it alive,_ her mind instantly remembered what it had known,_ he's dying.

_She heard an almost chocking noise beside her and looked over to see Leyla with tears in her eyes._

"_Gohan, I think it's time we should go home," Leyla whispered but started to freak out when she didn't get an answer. Marie looked away when tears started to blur her vision as well._

"_Gohan," she whispered, knowing that he was already gone. She felt the urge to lie down when she felt a hand on her shoulder._

"_Marie," Leyla's voice came through to her distorted, "you said that Lotus hosts are connected."_

"_Yeah, so?" she replied weakly, not really listening well. Leyla seemed to know this and shook her shoulder harder._

"_Marie! You need to do something!" Leyla nearly shouted. She sat up and looked at the other girl, seeing the same wetness that was in her eyes reflected._

"_But I don't know if it will even work! I've never done it before!" she declared as she tried to stand up, but couldn't find the strength to._

"_You need to at least try! If not, he's going to die!" Leyla shouted at her, making her look back down at the ground._

"_You don't think I know that…" she started but shook her head, not finishing the sentence. Marie closed her eyes and willed for this to work; Gohan had no idea what he had just done by dying, and now it was her turn to start to fix the mess that he had made._

* * *

I am really sorry about not getting this chapter up sooner! School and life in general have both been really busy, but I hope this at least made up for it. I hope you liked it and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	9. A Bad Mistake

**Silvereyedfreak:** Thanks for the review!

**MissieMidget1204:** Thanks for the review! And yeah, I like Marie's character a lot. She is very complex, but more about her will be revealed in later chapters.

* * *

Chapter 9: A Big Mistake

_ Everything felt cold, darkness surrounded him. Gohan had no idea where he was, but where ever it was he didn't like it. His body felt numb, all except for the constant pain in his side that was starting to fade with time._

_ He tried to get up from the dark place where he was at, but he felt too weak to do anything. Something was coming to claim him; that he was sure of. The weariness and darkness that were coming over him was proof of that. His strength continued to ebb away at an alarming rate, making the place darker and colder than before._

_ Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard a voice._

_ "Gohan, can you hear me?" the voice asked in a soft and worried tone. He was sure that he had heard the voice before – it sounded familiar – but he couldn't remember who it belonged to._

_ "Who are you?" he asked, hoping for a chance to find out who was most likely coming to retrieve him and bring him to the Other World._

_ "Gohan, don't you remember me? I'm Marie," the voice said, sounding almost as if it were heartbroken._

Marie_, he repeated the voice in his head numerous times, but he couldn't quite remember who she was._

_ "I'm tired," he said, "can't you let me sleep?"_

_ "No!" the voice sounded frantic, "don't slip away! Wake up!"_

_ Gohan then felt feeling return to his numb body, making him inhale a sharp breath at the amount of pain he felt. He opened his eyes and saw blurred images of people, but even though he couldn't make them out yet, he remembered them._

_ "Leyla? Marie?" he asked uncertainly. His vision was slowly starting to return, but his body felt like it had been asleep for a long time._

_ "Gohan?" came a chocked reply from above him; he then started to see blue and crimson eyes staring at him. He assumed that Leyla had been the one that had answered him._

_ "What happened?" he asked, not quite remembering and blaming it on the fogginess in his head._

_ "You fell when the ground collapsed," Leyla said, "we thought you were…"_

_ "He was dead," Marie stated simply as she got up and walked a few feet away, back turned and her arms wrapped around her._

_ "Marie, I heard you…" Gohan started to say, but Leyla interrupted him._

_ "What do you mean by he was dead? He's alive and breathing now!" Leyla was now screaming at Marie, making Gohan confused of what was going on._

_ "You wouldn't understand…" Marie stated in a soft tone while she stared at the ground. Gohan, on the other hand, was feeling completely confused about everything that was happening._

_ "What do you mean that I wouldn't understand!" Leyla shouted, "I'm his best friend!"_

_ Gohan groaned for two reasons: the first being he was trying to sit up but his body really wasn't cooperating, and the other being that his two friends were fighting; he really hoped that his friends would think his displeasure was from the first reason._

_ He turned his attention back to his two friends and did not like what he saw. Leyla looked about ready to murder someone, while Marie looked like someone had just slapped her; Gohan guessed that Leyla might have just done that._

_ "Why are you guys fighting?" he asked them, "I'm okay now."_

_ Leyla and Marie both looked over at him, making him guess that they were just remembering that he was still there._

_ "We should get you home," Leyla said as both her and Marie came back over to stand beside him, helping him stand up and walk. When they got to the edge of the crevice, they flew upwards._

_ "I think I'm ok now. I can fly," Gohan said while feeling a bit better that he didn't have to rely on walking back to the house._

_ They continued to fly, trying to sense out where the others were. Gohan had a strange feeling that he was forgetting something, but he really couldn't remember what._

_ "Hey Marie?" he asked, trying to remember what had exactly happened._

_ "Yes?" she answered, looking a little bit confused. He felt like something else was wrong; she looked really pale and worn out._

_ "What did you see?" Gohan asked, remembering that Marie had seemed deathly pale before he had fallen, "I mean, before I fell."_

_ Marie seemed to pale a bit again, but she started to smile; Gohan could tell that she was faking it._

_ "Oh nothing really, nothing to worry about," Marie said as she smiled sweetly, obviously trying to cover something up. Gohan decided to just let it go for the moment; she probably wasn't comfortable voicing what she had seen just yet. Silence then followed._

_ They continued to fly, Gohan scanning the surface below them, looking for any familiar landmarks. So far, he hadn't been able to sense his father or friends' Ki, so he was worried. Two ideas came into his head: the Tako could have gotten them or they were hiding their power levels._

Is this some kind of payback?_ Gohan thought when he tried to search again, but found nothing. He didn't know the answer, but he wasn't quite sure for what payback it would be for._

_ When they still couldn't find the building, Gohan decided that they all needed some rest._

_ "I think we should stop looking for now," he said and both Leyla and Marie, who by now were exhausted, just nodded their heads. They all three touched down to the ground and Gohan realized that they were at another abandoned village._

_ "Another one?" Leyla asked, voicing Gohan's thought. Gohan looked at her and nodded._

_ "I guess we should find some place to stay," he stated as he took the lead, walking through the ruined village with Leyla and Marie following him._

_ After an hour or so, they still couldn't find any place to rest, but what Gohan thought was most strange was that the village seems to go on for miles, ruined or not._

Is there even an end?_ Gohan thought as he continued to look around. He looked over at Marie and Leyla._

_ "Is anyone else finding this a bit strange?" Leyla asked after a while. Marie looked over at her and nodded._

_ "There's no end," Marie said in a sullen voice. Gohan was about to ask her what she meant, but he stopped when he heard another voice._

_ "Well of course there's no end, I made it that way," he shuddered when he recognized the owner of the voice, turning around and knowing that what he thought was true._

_ He turned around and saw the figure, her red eyes glowing eerily. But what concerned him the most was that the Tako was right behind her._

Get behind me,_ he ordered Marie and Leyla, both of them being too frightened to disobey him._

_ "What do you mean?" Gohan asked the figure. She laughed, making it seem as if she were mocking them._

_ "I made it this way. No one can get in my way now. There is no escape…" the figure said as she smiled, her crimson eyes glowing brighter,_

_ "And now, I have you."_

* * *

Sorry, I figured that was a good way to end this chapter. I'm also sorry that this is a bit delayed, but I've been really busy with summer classes and my other fanfictions. I would like to know what you think would happen next. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	10. Escape Alive

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Good guess! Also, I think you are right about Marie and Gohan being a bit closer, but under different circumstances. Leyla had been spying on them though when they were talking, so I believe that she could understand a bit of what was going on.

**schubskie: **I'm glad that you've caught up! And yeah, the underground pool does kind of remind me of the Moon Pool from Warriors. Maybe that's where I got my inspiration. And yes, you are good at writing!

* * *

Chapter 10: Escape Alive

_ As soon as the figure finished speaking, the Tako lunged forward and came straight towards them. Gohan really didn't know what to do; he knew that if he tried to run that the Tako would get either Leyla or Marie._

_ Before he knew it, the Tako was right in front of them, tentacles just about ready to strike. Gohan, in a moment of fear, just stood there and did nothing. He closed his eyes, waiting for the Tako to strike, but a change in lighting made him open his eyes. _

_He gasped when he saw a barrier of light green vines circled around them, covering where they were standing completely._

_He looked back at Marie to ask something, but he stopped when he saw that Marie's eyes were closed._

How can I help?_ He wondered, cringing when he heard the Tako roaring in rage outside of the vine barrier._

Not now,_ Marie answered, making Gohan feel a bit confused._

But couldn't I try and help you with the vines? _He asked, hoping there was some way to help his friend._

No, we don't need you passing out right now, especially when the Tako is here. And besides, you can't even make a flower without passing out yet,_ Marie answered, and as much as Gohan didn't want to admit it, she was right._

"_You can't hide forever," the figure said as she laughed, making both Marie and Gohan shudder._

_He then realized with dread that the light green vine barrier that Marie had put up was breaking, and at a fast pace too._

"_Marie, Leyla, when the barrier breaks, make a run for it," Gohan commanded, earning a nod from Leyla and a stubborn look from Marie. He guessed that it was the best Marie could do at glaring._

"_Gohan…" Marie started in an angry voice._

"_Don't worry Marie, and either way, I can't just do nothing," he said, trying to reason with her._

"_You don't get it. It's not after me…" Marie started, but Gohan shook his head._

"_I know, that's why I need you two to run for it. They won't harm you if you are further away," Gohan explained._

"_But what about you?" Leyla asked in a worried tone, finally being able to speak through the terror she was feeling._

"_I'll be fine," Gohan said while smiling, realizing that the barrier was almost destroyed completely, "I was trained by Piccolo when I was four. At least I know how to defend myself for a while."_

"_Stop using that as an excuse!" Marie shouted angrily, "You don't know what it can do to you!"_

"_Yes I do!" he argued back, "I saw what happened to Yamcha. I know what it does."_

"_That's not what I meant!" Marie retaliated, this time while tears streamed down her face, "You don't know how it feels when it's gone!"_

_Gohan was about to argue more, but then he felt the barrier break completely and froze when he saw the Tako._

"_Run!" Gohan yelled, glad when he glanced back and saw both of his friends listening to him. He then looked back at the Tako, and saw a flash of white._

_For a moment, his conscience was back at the crevice, and he saw the Tako come out from the rocks, apparently being embedded in it. The Tako then lunged for him, but it shrank back at some invisible force, just as he fell. _

_He didn't really have time to think over what he had just seen, because the next moment the Tako was in front of him and was swinging one of its tentacles at him. He quickly jumped out of the way, trying to remember everything he had learned up till that moment._

Think of the tentacles as Ki blasts,_ he reminded himself; _they either come all at once or periodically.

_Gohan's correction proved to be right, making it able that he was able to dodge all of the tentacles. The Tako then roared in frustration, its red membrane then starting to glow._

_Gohan's eyes widened as he backed away then turned around and ran in the direction his friends had gone._

_He heard the Tako roaring again in anger and could tell that it was going to come after him, but suddenly it stopped._

"_No, let them run. There is no escape," the figure said to the Tako as she laughed, but Gohan heard every word of it as he caught up with Leyla and Marie; all three of them then flying away._

* * *

Sorry, I figured that I would stop at that. Also, I'm sorry that this one was short too, but I'll have the next chapter out soon. So, how was this chapter? Personally, I think that Marie and Gohan weren't getting along too well in this one, but for me it was kind of amusing. Marie usually wouldn't retaliate like that. Either way, what do you think will happen next? I just want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/alerted this fanfiction. Your words really keep me going. I hope you enjoyed this and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	11. More Problems

**schubskie:** Yeah, Gohan has gotten himself into a lot of problems. Although I do have to tell you that we won't be caught up into the present for a while now.

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Good guess! And I do agree with you about Marie and Gohan's mini fights being amusing a bit.

* * *

Chapter 11: More Problems

_Gohan, Marie, and Leyla all flew down to the ground, feeling exhausted at everything that had happened that day. They looked around, noticing that the buildings in this part of the 'town' were a bit more suitable for a shelter to stay at for the night._

_ Marie skipped over to one, but stopped suddenly, turning around to come back to the group with a confused look on her face._

_ "What's wrong?" Gohan asked, feeling a bit nervous at his friend's look. Marie shook her head and then continued walking, the confused look still on her face._

_ Gohan started to follow Marie, but then stopped when he sensed that Leyla's Ki was still in the same place. He turned to face her, confused. He walked back over to Leyla and grabbed her arm lightly, giving it a gentle pull._

_ When she still didn't budge, Gohan was thinking of saying something, but stopped when he felt that she was shaking._

_ "Come on, Leyla. We'll find somewhere to stay soon," Gohan said in a soft tone, figuring that his friend was shaking because of the cold. Leyla nodded mechanically, almost as if she didn't understand what he had just said, but she started to follow him anyway._

_ After a few steps, Leyla stopped again with a look of fear directed straight in front of him. Gohan quickly turned around and just caught a glimpse of Marie glaring harshly at Leyla before the look vanished._

_ He looked back and forth between his two friends, wondering if he had been imagining what he had just seen. He shook his head and continued to pull Leyla while following Marie, hoping that none of them got separated._

_ Marie suddenly stopped at a four way intersection, making Gohan nearly run into her with Leyla trailing behind. He was about to ask Marie why she had stopped when he suddenly felt a weight pull him down towards the ground._

_ The sudden weight that tugged on his arm made him pull in a sharp breath and let go of Leyla's hand. He turned around to look at his friend, who was by now slumped on the ground and shivering. Gohan quickly looked over at Marie, who he thought had an amused look on her face, before walking over to Leyla._

_ "Leyla, what's wrong?" he asked, feeling like something wasn't quite right for the moment. Instead of answering his question, Leyla only made him feel saddened._

_ "I want my mom," Leyla whispered while on the verge of tears. Gohan bit his lip, trying to find something to say to her._

_ "I know, Leyla, but that's not possible now," Gohan whispered, fearing that he wouldn't be able to talk if he tried to make his voice louder. He wasn't sure what else to say to comfort his grieving friend. He looked back when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that Marie was smiling at him._

_ As Marie walked over and kneeled down beside Leyla, Gohan was actually starting to think that his two friends were finally agreeing with each other; that was, until he heard what Marie said, making the situation worse._

_ "It's ok if you want to have a hysteric breakdown," Marie whispered, making Gohan pale. He walked over to his two friends, bending down beside Marie._

_ "Um Marie, I don't think that was the right thing to say right now," Gohan whispered to his friend while Leyla started to glare at Marie. He sighed, knowing where this was going, and stood up, turning his back away from them._

_ "Hysteric breakdown? How would you even know what that is?" Leyla shouted angrily at Marie, only receiving a smile as her answer, which seemed to infuriate her more, "You wouldn't understand because you don't have a family!"_

_ Marie's eyes widened at Leyla's statement while Gohan tried to block them out, but with no success._

_ "I do have a family!" Marie retaliated, "Gohan's my family."_

_ Gohan, at this point, was running low on patience and energy. He tried to block them out again, but their fight was getting too loud for him to try and block them out like Piccolo had taught him._

_ "Are you sure? Because last time I checked, Gohan was part of _my_ family first!" Leyla shouted back. As there bickering continued, Gohan thought he was about to burst with anger._

First, I get taken away from the house by my friend who I know absolutely nothing about. Then, I died. Leyla's having a hysterical fit and now they're fighting. What else can go wrong?_ He thought with annoyance._

_ "Can you two just stop?" Gohan shouted, whipping around to face them. Both of them became silent at his outburst, making Gohan feel a bit bad for yelling at him, but any other thoughts were wiped away by a voice from behind them._

_ "Can I help you?" the voice asked in a strange tone. Gohan whipped around to face the voice, seeing with a bit of relief that it was only a man. _

_What started to unnerve him though was that two more came out of an alley, all of them smelling strange. Gohan backed up so that he was in front of both Marie and Leyla, both of them now silent._

_ "No, we were just trying to find the exit," Gohan stated, still feeling angry about how the day was going._

_ "Oh, I don't think that we can help you with that," the first man that had spoken said, "There is no exit."_

_ Gohan's eyes widened when he heard that, remembering that the figure had said the exact same thing. He took a deep breath to try and calm down, but started coughing when the three men's overwhelming stench hit his nose._

_ "Do you guys even consider taking a shower?" Gohan asked as he tried to ignore the smell coming from them._

_ "There are no showers," a second man said in a lazy tone. _

_Gohan decided that it would be best to know what they were up against. He saw that all three men were not very strong, but something was off about them. He knew that if they would try to attack, he might not be strong enough to fight them due to his weakened state._

"_What do you want?" Marie asked in a scared tone. Gohan looked back at his two friends, seeing that they were now shaking._

"_I don't know," the third man said with a creepy smile, "what do we want?"_

_Gohan wasn't liking the way these men were acting, but he wasn't sure how to fix the situation. He felt a little bit of anger at their attitudes._

"_Ok, I just woke up from supposedly being dead and I'm not in a very good mood today, so if I were you, I would leave us alone," he stated harshly. He could feel Marie's confusion from behind him, but he decided to ignore it. All three of the men laughed, making Gohan's anger rise._

"_And what could you do to us, kid?" one of the men asked mockingly. Gohan stared at them angrily, wondering what he could actually do to them in his weakened state._

_Suddenly, the three men started to walk towards them, making Gohan now copy Leyla and Marie's fright. He quickly looked around, trying to find an escape. He suddenly remembered the other alleys, but when he looked, there was only the one that the three men had come out of._

_ Gohan suddenly felt his vision swim, becoming blurred accompanied by the constant throbbing in his side returning._

Not now,_ he thought as he closed his eyes, fearing that if he kept them open any longer that he would pass out. The pain in his side then grew more when he heard the three men suddenly make chocking sounds._

_ Gohan didn't dare open his eyes, already developing a headache. When the pain was gone and everything was silent, Gohan hesitantly opened his eyes. He then saw the three men fall with a sickening thud from the air to the ground, dark green vines crumbling away._

_ He looked back at Marie, who looked by now about to faint. Leyla still looked like she was going to go crazy any moment now, but she had a confused look on her face._

_ "Gohan, how did you do that?" Leyla asked in a unsteady voice. He looked at her for a moment._

_ "I…" 'Didn't' was what he was about to say, but then he stopped and stared at the ground. He suddenly remembered that Marie's vines were light green._

So that means that I…_ he thought but couldn't finish what he was thinking, his mind already being reeled back to weeks ago._

* * *

_(Flashback to a few weeks ago)_

_ "Gohan!" Leyla yelled worriedly as she ran across the ground to where her friend was. Gohan, hearing Leyla call him, came out of the house, worried when he saw that Leyla was crying._

_ "Leyla, what's wrong?" he asked in a hurry, wondering if the Tako had finally found them. His friend was trying to take calming breaths, but it wasn't working since the moisture in her eyes kept falling._

_ "It's my mom. I don't know what's wrong," Leyla sputtered, making Gohan now understand why Leyla would be so upset. Her mother had fallen strangely ill about a week ago, making everyone wonder what had made her so sick._

_ Gohan nodded and started to run towards the small building that Leyla and her mother had taken refuge in since they had found this area to be safe so far from the Tako. _

_He stopped right outside of the building, not sure of what to do. Leyla came running up behind him, stopping and bending over to catch her breath._

"_She said for me to come get you," Leyla whispered once she was a bit more stable. Gohan nodded and started to walk into the one room building. He looked around and saw Leyla's mother on a small cot in the corner of the room, the only light being a small candle beside the cot._

What can I do?_ He thought worriedly as he walked towards the cot. Leyla's mother, Ren, must have seen him coming._

"_Come over here Gohan," she said with her voice being barely above a whisper. Gohan obeyed, wondering why Leyla's mother would have called for him and not one of the doctors in the area._

_She motioned to a stool beside the cot and Gohan sat in it, noticing how pale she was. She opened her eyes and stared at him, making Gohan once again wonder why Ren had light brown eyes with Leyla having crimson ones._

"_Why did you call me here?" Gohan asked, not sure of why he was here instead of Leyla._

"_To tell you some things," Leyla's mother said in a soft tone while smiling at him. Before she could say anything else, Gohan voiced the first question that was on his mind._

"_Do you know what made you sick?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. She waited for a moment before answering._

"_Well of course I do," she said with a smile, making Gohan surprised._

"_What is it?" he asked, hoping that if she would tell him, then they could get her the right medicine to make her feel better. Ren sighed before speaking again._

"_I would tell you, but it's a long story and we don't have much time," she said while averting her gaze to the wall, "and I am not sure that I want to burden you and Leyla with that bit of information."_

"_But…" Gohan started with confusion, but Ren cut him off gently._

"_Will you listen to what I have to tell you?" she asked gently. Gohan nodded, not sure of what else to say. He heard noises from outside of the building, but he tried to focus on how he could help Leyla's mom._

"_Can you take care of Leyla for me?" she asked, making Gohan feel a bit frightened and confused._

"_Why…?" Gohan started again, but then he fell silent when Ren shook her head weakly._

"_I don't think I'll be here much longer," she said with a hint of sadness, "Leyla is such a sweet girl, but I don't want her to be affected by this."_

_Gohan's mind went blank; all he could really think about was that he was becoming powerless to stop what was going to happen._

"_No," he whispered weakly, "I can help somehow."_

_He closed his eyes, not really sure of what he was going to do, but he then felt a pain through his side. Hoping that this was a good thing, he waited for a few moments before the pain stopped, opening his eyes and seeing Leyla's mother with a smile on her face and eyes closed._

"_Ren?" he whispered, wondering if she was asleep. He waited for a few moments before he realized that she wasn't breathing._

I was too late,_ he thought sadly. He blew out the candle and covered Leyla's mother completely with the blanket, walking out to tell Leyla of the sad news._

* * *

_ Gohan thought back and then another memory hit him, only this time he saw Yamcha die all over again. He curled over onto his knees when he felt his stomach start to churn, but luckily this time nothing came out._

_ "Gohan?" Marie's voice brought him away from the memories that plagued him._

_ "Are you ok?" Leyla asked with concern. Gohan looked up at his friend, realizing with fear what he had done._

_ "I killed her," Gohan whispered as his vision became blurry. He then tore his gaze from Leyla's confused one and stared at the ground._

_ "Killed who?" Marie's confused question came to him, but he couldn't find the words to answer her._

_ "I'm just like it," Gohan thought with dread. He then brought his head up to stare at three power levels that were flying towards them in the distance. Finally, the effects of the day caught up to him and he fell towards the ground._

* * *

I am really sorry about not updating for a while, but I have vacation and tons of laundry to blame for this one. Hopefully this longer chapter made up for it. So, now we know a bit about Leyla's family. Who do you think was coming towards them? And who or what do you think made Leyla's mother sick? Also, sorry for the random 'flashback' notice, but I had no other ideas on how to do that when I was already using italics. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	12. Explanations

**schubskie: **Thanks for the review! And good guess! I do agree with you that Marie seemed a bit rude in the beginning, but for some reason I was laughing when I wrote that (she does have her view of things). And I was just thinking of how Gohan and Marie can "control" plants being called "plant bending". :)

* * *

Chapter 12: Explanations

_All he could see was black, so he figured that he was still asleep but somewhat conscious. He could hear voices, but he couldn't tell whose they were. They sounded familiar, but with the haze that he was in, he knew that he couldn't really tell._

What happened?_ He thought, his mind not really helping him to remember what had happened before he had passed out._

_ His memories seemed to be in shreds, flitting across his vision in tatters and showing bits and pieces. Some seemed to be from a long time ago – he could tell because of his age in the memories – but others seemed to be more recent._

_ Suddenly it all came back to him: running away from home, falling off the cliff, the alleyway…_

_ He groaned as he felt his head throb. He then heard the voices stop for a moment and he could have sworn that someone was looking at him, but with the darkness he was in, he couldn't really tell._

_ The voices then continued, getting clearer with each passing minute._

_ "He just passed out!" he heard a girl's voice angrily exclaim; he assumed that the girl was talking about him._

_ "We know…" Gohan heard a voice start to say gently, but it was interrupted by another voice._

_ "You two shouldn't have snuck him out of the building in the first place!" the next voice interrupted angrily and Gohan was finally able to put a name to the angry voice._

Piccolo,_ he thought while naming the voices, _and Krillin and Leyla.

_"Piccolo, take it easy on them. We don't know why they did it," his father's voice now joined into the conversation while confirming Gohan's guesses._

_ The next thing he heard was whispering and a few moments of tense silence. _

_ "Marie, are you going to tell him?" Leyla asked with a sigh. He then felt Marie's Ki rise a bit, but she remained silent._

_ "Marie…" his father started, but Gohan didn't hear him finish._

_ "I'm not going to tell you anything!" Marie suddenly shouted, her rise in voice volume mirrored her rise in Ki._

_ He then felt the headache return. Suddenly aware that he could move, he opened his eyes and saw his friend standing with her back turned to him, a stubborn look on her face._

_ He quickly looked around and saw that he was back in the building, but there was a big flower under him instead of a bed. He realized that Marie must have made it._

_ "Marie?" he questioned in a whisper, realizing how weak he actually was._

_ At the sound of his voice, everyone in the room turned to look at him with surprised looks, somewhat making him feel subconscious._

_ He looked up at Marie to see that she had turned around to face him, a worried but relieved look in her eyes._

_ "You're awake," she whispered before sitting down beside him on the flower. He sat up and blinked a few time, trying to make sense of what was going on._

_ "What were you guys arguing about?" he asked as he looked around, realizing that Krillin, Marie, Leyla, Piccolo, his father, and Vegeta were in the room._

_ No one answered him right away, which made him somewhat mad since he figured that he had a right to know. A few moments later, Marie somewhat answered his question._

_ "It's nothing you need to worry about," Marie whispered, making Gohan confused. Some part of his memory was tugging at something, but he couldn't remember anything past when he fell to the ground._

_ "Of course he needs to know about it! It could have killed him!" Leyla yelled, while Marie whipped her head around to glare at the other girl; the look sending shivers through him._

_ "What… could have killed me?" he questioned looking around the room while feeling even more confused. He figured that it had something to do with the memory that he was having a hard time remembering._

_ Marie looked once more at everyone else in the room before sitting on the ground in front of him._

_ "I'll help," she whispered, "close your eyes and clear your mind."_

_ Gohan was confused by this, but he did as she said, wondering if she meant about helping him to remember the memory that seemed to elude him._

_ He suddenly felt a flash of pain go through him before seeing brief images. He saw a flash of dark green thorns come up out of the ground and form a barrier around something._

_ Even though the images were brief, the pain he felt with each one got worse until he couldn't handle it. Just as he was sure that Marie was about to show him more, he quickly pulled away, losing his balance and tumbling backwards onto the floor._

_ He felt his heavy breathing as he stared up at Marie from his position on the floor, realizing that the flower she made was much bigger this time from the height he fell at onto the floor._

_ "What…?" he started to ask, but then stopped to catch his breath, shaking his head in confusion._

_ Marie helped him up onto the flower, making sure that he wasn't going to fall off again._

_ "Gohan, are you ok?" he looked over to see his father looking over at him with concern on his face._

_ "I'm fine!" Gohan snapped suddenly, feeling as if his emotions were being controlled again. Marie's eyes widened for a moment from where she was sitting beside him, while everyone else was equally shocked._

_ "Sorry," he said quickly, glancing towards the floor._

That's the second time I feel like that. What is going on?_ He thought with confusion._

_ "Emotion sharing," Marie whispered from beside him, making him startled._

Did she just read my mind?_ Gohan thought with confusion as he looked over at his friend. Marie looked over at him and smiled._

_ "Yep," she said with a smile, making Gohan fall backwards in surprise again._

_ "Gohan, is everything ok?" Krillin asked him from where he was standing._

_ "Yes, everything's fine," he stated quickly as he got up and pulled Marie into his room._

_ He quickly shut the door and was going to lock it when light green vines appeared on the doorknob and covered the door._

_ "Easier that way," Marie stated from behind him, making him a bit creeped out by his friend's behavior._

_ "Marie, what happened? What is going on? How can you read my mind?" he asked the first questions that popped into his mind. Marie sat down and sighed._

_ "I have a lot of explaining to do…" Marie said with a sigh. Gohan sat down beside her._

_ "Yes, you do," he stated, wondering how much Marie actually knew._

_ "Start from the beginning," Marie whisper but then her tone got louder, "what you just experienced was emotion and memory sharing."_

_ "Emotion and memory sharing?" he repeated, feeling confused._

_ "Yes, memory sharing is where one Lotus host transmits a memory or image to another Lotus host. Emotion sharing is when one Lotus host feels what another host is feeling," Marie explained while staring at the floor, "also; Lotus hosts can hear each others thoughts."_

_ "Ok," Gohan said, taking a deep breath, "then why can't I hear your thoughts?"_

_ Marie didn't answer for a moment; she seemed to be thinking hard._

_ "I don't know," she answered truthfully, "maybe it just takes practice."_

_ Gohan nodded, but then thought of something._

_ "How do you know all of this?" he asked. When he looked at Marie, she seemed to have a scared look on her face._

_ "Well…" she started but then stopped and stared over at the open window. Gohan also stared at the window and realized that something was moving outside. He crept over to the window and saw a shadow reflected from down below, as well as heavy breathing._

Ok, creepy,_ he thought as he shivered and looked back at Marie. She was once again glaring at the window, making him remember that she had been doing that the other day._

_ He quickly stood up and looked out the window, realizing with surprise that Leyla was trying to climb up the side of the ledge leading to the window._

_ "What are you doing?" he asked as he saw Leyla look up at him with wide eyes._

_ "Well…" she started nervously. Gohan felt someone squeeze in beside him._

_ "That's how you've been spying on us," Marie stated coldly, completely the opposite of what she had acted like a few moments ago._

_ "You've been spying on us?" Gohan asked with surprise, looking down at his longtime friend._

_ "Well…" Leyla started again, looking very uncomfortable on the ledge. Gohan sighed._

_ "Why didn't you just fly up?" Gohan asked._

_ "You guys would sense me, but I guess that's how you found out," Leyla answered with a sheepish smile. _

_Gohan laughed a bit as he helped her up. He glanced over at Marie and saw that she was not happy._

"_What?" he asked as he stared at Marie._

"_She was spying on us," Marie said, pouting._

"_Yes, but she's forgiven. I'm sure she had a reason to," he said, noticing that Marie had a confused look on her face._

"_What?" he asked when he saw her mood change._

"_Nothing," she stated as she quickly looked away, staring at the floor._

_Gohan shook his head as he closed the window and the three of them sat down._

_ "What happened when I passed out," Gohan asked partially to change the subject, but he was also wondering about the images Marie had shown him through memory sharing._

_ "It's kind of hard to explain but…" Leyla paused for a moment, "these huge, thorny vines came out of the ground and surrounded you so we couldn't get to you."_

_ Gohan remembered seeing something like that in the images._

_ "Yeah, but why couldn't you just destroy the vines?" he asked, wondering why he didn't remember any of this._

_ "That's the thing, we tried, but the vines were immune to Ki blasts and other attacks," Leyla said as she shook her head._

_ "How did you get me out then?" he questioned, feeling even more confused._

_ "Marie did something," Leyla said as both of them stared at his blonde haired friend. She looked just as subconscious as he had when everyone had stared at him earlier._

_ "I asked them to," Marie answered shortly before looking away again. Gohan nodded since he understood, but Leyla had a confused look on her face._

_ "What?" she asked in confusion._

_ "It's hard to explain," he said while laughing a bit. Leyla looked back and forth between him and Leyla before continuing._

_ "Anyway, when we got you out, you were still passed out but the thorns had cut you pretty bad," Leyla said, making Gohan remember that he had felt like his skin was stinging back when he was asleep._

_ The room then lapsed into silence, giving Gohan time to think things over._

That still doesn't explain why I feel like something else happened. They aren't telling me the whole truth,_ he thought, knowing that they wouldn't talk any more about what had happened._

* * *

So, how was this chapter? I think a few key factors were revealed in this chapter, especially about more of the powers of the Lotus. So what do you think will happen next? And what/why do you think that Marie won't tell Gohan the whole truth? I hope you enjoyed and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	13. Wrong Timing

**schubskie:** Thanks for the review! And good guesses! You are somewhat correct, but we'll need to wait and see what really happened (which will be revealed in a few chapters). And I think you are correct about my mix-up with words, so thank you for alerting me to that! And here's the next chapter! :)

**CrazyGohanGurl:** I'm glad that you are caught up, and thanks for the review! What parts are you kind of confused on? Some of them are going to be confusing for plot reasons that I can't explain yet, but if some of your questions can be answered, I'll do that the best I can. Thanks once again!

* * *

Chapter 13: Wrong Timing

_ "Marie, wait up!" Gohan shouted as he ran, trying to catch up to his blonde haired friend._

_ Marie was currently running as if they were playing tag, jumping just out of his reach when he got near._

_ "No, you need to catch me first!" Marie shouted back, making Gohan laugh as he tried to catch up to her._

_ Marie had been the one to suggest coming to this area, which she had quickly turned into a field of flowers, making Gohan somewhat wish that he would be able to do that. He was getting better though, since he didn't pass out anymore and the flowers survived at least two days._

_ Gohan stopped running and realized that he had lost sight of Marie among the field. He quickly reached out to find her Ki, but was surprised that she was hiding it pretty well._

She's already getting better,_ Gohan thought with a smile._

_ He had been teaching Marie how to use Ki and other 'tricks', as she liked to call them, in exchange for her teaching him about the Lotus, or "Lein-Hua" as Marie sometimes referred to it._

_ He walked a bit and tried to search for her Ki in the different areas, but he still couldn't find her. Getting worried that the Taco could have possibly found her; Gohan raised his Ki a bit and started to call her name._

_ "Marie!" he shouted, getting somewhat worried._

_ After a few minutes and still not finding her, Gohan started to sprint across the field trying to find her._

_ "Marie!" he shouted again, louder this time. He knew that he probably sounded frantic, but he was starting to think that he wouldn't be able to find her._

_ Suddenly, he saw a shape quickly appear in front of him. Nearly running into the shape, Gohan stopped as quickly as he could and came face to face with a smiling Marie._

_ "What is it?" she asked, smiling as if nothing was wrong. Gohan quickly remembered that they had been playing tag and gently poked her._

_ Marie looked down at her arm where he poked her, a puzzled and somewhat sad expression on her face._

_ "Oh, you caught me," she said, staring at her arm looking confused._

_ Gohan sighed and sat down. He was starting to wonder if she had a multiple personality disorder or something, with the way she kept changing personalities so quickly._

_ He felt Marie sit down beside him, and was puzzled when he realized that his legs were dangling off a cliff. Looking down, he saw that there was a river in the valley below them._

There was never a river there though,_ Gohan thought and then turned to look at Marie._

_ "When did that river get there?" he asked, feeling somewhat confused._

_ "I made it," Marie stated, a smile on her face._

_ "How can you do that?" Gohan wondered, falling back to rest on the grass behind him._

_ "I asked the vines to move and water spurted out of the ground," Marie explained, making Gohan laugh. _

_ Every time Marie did something with plants, she always said she "asked them" to do something._

_ Marie lied down beside him and started staring at the sky. Gohan looked up as well._

_ Even though the sky was never the bright blue that it had been in his childhood, it was nicer today._

_ "The sky is sick," Marie said, making Gohan look over at her and see that she was frowning. He looked back up at the sky._

_ "What do you mean?" he asked, wondering why she thought that._

_ "Look at it," Marie stated, pointing at the sky with her finger. Gohan looked at her and started laughing._

_ Marie apparently didn't like this._

_ "What's so funny?" she asked in a disapproving tone. Gohan took a moment to stop laughing._

_ "I have looked at it, but I still don't get what you mean," he explained._

_ Marie sat up, still staring at the sky._

_ "Look how dull it is," Marie stated, "doesn't it look sick to you?"_

_ Gohan sat up and glanced back up at the sky again._

_ "I guess you're right," he said, "but I would have never thought of it that way. I guess I'm just used to the way it looks."_

_ Marie glanced at him, a puzzled look on her face._

_ "Why is that?" she asked. _

_ Gohan was now starting to wonder if she had been blind before this, but he didn't want to ask her._

_ "It's just that the sky always used to look so much prettier when I was younger. After time, it just turned to look like this," Gohan said, feeling a little sad._

_ A few moments of silence passed before Marie pulled him to his feet._

_ "What…?" he started, but Marie started smiling._

_ "Come on. Let's go down there," she said while pulling him to the top of a hill that led down to the river._

_ "Ok…" Gohan stated as Marie suddenly stopped at the top of the hill and started smiling at him._

_ "What?" he asked, feeling as if he missed something. Marie just kept smiling as she turned him to face the hill._

_ "You're it!" she yelled as she shoved him from behind, resulting in him falling down the hill._

_ Gohan didn't know what to think when his vision started turning in so many directions that he couldn't concentrate. When his vision finally settled, he found himself at the bottom of the hill._

_ Standing up, he looked at Marie, who was now running down the hill towards him._

_ "If that was your idea to cheer me up, I don't think it was a very good one!" Gohan yelled. Marie just stood in front of him and laughed._

_ "Come on," Marie stated as she pulled him towards the river. Gohan just shook his head and let himself be pulled._

Why do I put up with this?_ He thought as he laughed. _

_Marie pulled him to the water's edge and dipped her feet in, motioning for him to do the same. He did as he was told, dipping his feet in the water and finding that it was a lot cleaner than most of the water he had seen before._

"_Maybe we should tell everyone else about this," Gohan suggested as they sat there. Marie shook her head._

"_We can't. It wouldn't be worth it," she said and Gohan wondered if she was being selfish for once._

"_Why?" he asked, feeling somewhat confused._

"_Because the vines will move back and the river will dry up. Everything has a lifespan," Marie said as she stared at the water. Gohan looked into the water and saw their reflections._

Well, maybe not the Tako,_ Gohan thought, wondering how the giant octopus could ever be defeated._

_Just then, a Ki signal flared up in his head. Marie must have noticed too, since she stood up in surprise at exactly the same time as he did._

"_Who…?" he started to ask, but Marie shook her head._

"_Krillin," she whispered, making Gohan's heart stop._

* * *

Sorry that this fanfiction was the last one I updated on my list of four continuous ones. It was just the last thing I came to. So, why do you think that Krillin's Ki shot up? And what do you think is going to happen next? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	14. Enough

Chapter 14: Enough

_Gohan felt his side start to hurt from all of the running he had been doing. Glancing over at his friend, he could tell that Marie was feeling the same effect from her heavy breathing._

_ He started to feel frustrated at how much more distance they had to go, but he could tell something was terribly wrong, and not just from Krillin's steadily dropping Ki._

_ The reason they were currently running and not flying was simple to say, but hard to understand. For some reason, they couldn't fly._

_ Gohan knew something had been wrong when he had felt his Ki start to be drained from him. Marie had the same effect, landing on the ground with a thud._

_ They had tried to find out what was causing it, but they knew it was only in a specific range, probably cause by the Tako._

_ Gohan sighed, knowing that their current transportation method was getting them nowhere fast._

_ "Any ideas?" Gohan asked Marie, knowing that she was just as stumped about this ordeal as he was. She shook her head, stopping a few feet behind him._

_ "No," Marie said with a confused look, "but something's changed."_

_ Gohan felt confused by her words, but when he searched for Ki levels again, he knew his friend was right. The Ki signals had all but disappeared._

_ "Seriously?" Gohan sighed, "Why do they always make it so hard?"_

_ Marie had a confused look on her face, not quite understanding what he was meaning._

_ "Who makes what hard?" she asked, making Gohan look over at her. He figured that they should continue moving, but he didn't know where to now._

_ "The bad guys," Gohan explained, "they always make everything hard."_

_ He saw Marie nod, a somewhat serious expression on her face._

_ "Yep, they never make things easy," Marie stated, but then started to smile, "but isn't that half the fun of things?"_

_ Her sudden change in mood made Gohan laugh, this was supposed to be something serious, but Marie usually always knew how to cheer him up._

_ "Yeah, well not so much when someone gets hurt because of it," he stated with a sigh, not sure where else to go._

_ He wondered where everyone else was, considering he couldn't sense their Kis anymore since Krillin's disappeared. He really hoped that his friend wasn't in trouble like they thought he was._

But then again, that always seems to be wrong,_ Gohan thought with a sigh, not coming up with any more ideas._

_ "Oh," Marie suddenly exclaimed, standing up. Gohan looked at her for a moment._

_ "What is it? Can you sense them?" he asked, but Marie shook her head._

_ "I just had an idea," she said and, before Gohan could ask, he felt the ground start to shake._

_ Starting to freak out a bit, Gohan wanted to know exactly what she thought of doing. Marie usually had good intentions, but not all of her "plans" turned out well._

_ "What are you doing? Starting an earthquake?" Gohan shouted over the now loud noises of the earth shifting._

_ "No, you'll see," Marie shouted back, making Gohan sigh._

Why can't she just tell me for once?_ Gohan thought with a shake of his head, but he was surprised when he saw a narrow block of earth start to sink in front of them, and then follow by others, leading into a dark underground passage._

_ "Oh," was all he could say, still surprised at how much more Marie could do than him._

_ "Yep," Marie stated with a smile, but then motioned to the tunnels, "Let's go!"_

_ Gohan didn't share his friend's enthusiasm, but he followed anyways. Raising his power level a bit, he was satisfied when he could see in front of them a few feet._

_ Marie glanced over at him and then started to laugh._

_ "What is it?" he asked, wondering why she suddenly started to laugh at him. _

_Marie didn't give him an answer right away, continuing to laugh and crawl through the tunnels next to him. When she did calm down enough to speak, Gohan could tell that she might start laughing again._

_ "It's funny when your hair does that," Marie said, motioning with her hands at his now golden hair, "you look a lot more like me then."_

_ Gohan still didn't get why she had been laughing, but at least he knew that she wasn't freaked out._

_ The first time he had turned Super Saiyan in front of her; Marie had gotten confused and thought that he was a different person. When he had tried to explain it to her, she didn't understand what he had meant, so he had pretty much given up on explaining Saiyan heritage and powers to her._

_ Gohan was about to say something when he saw a light ahead. Motioning to Marie, they both crawled down deeper into the tunnel to where the light was shining from._

_ When they got to the end of the tunnel, Gohan saw a gradual slope that led down to some kind of cave. He looked over at Marie, confused._

_ "Did you even know where these led when you made them?" he asked, hoping she might know where they were._

_ "No, I just made them," Marie said with a shake of her head. _

_Gohan sighed, wondering how this was going to help them when he sensed Krillin's power level again. Checking first that no other power levels were present, they both ran into the cave._

_It took a bit for Gohan's eyes to get adjusted to the darker area, but when they did, he saw a shape lying on the ground a few feet away from them._

"_Krillin!" Gohan shouted as he ran forward, but then tripped on something. Thinking that it was just a vine, he continued to run towards his friend._

_Bending down beside Krillin, Gohan was relieved to find that he was still breathing, just badly hurt._

At least he's not dead,_ Gohan thought with a sigh of relief. He could sense relief coming from Marie too._

"_I think we should get him out of here," Gohan said, earning a nod from Marie._

_As they started to move Krillin from the ground, he felt Marie grow tense beside him._

"_What is it?" he asked, looking over at his friend while setting Krillin down. He checked for power levels, but there were no others besides his, Marie's, and Krillin's in the cave._

"_I have a bad feeling about this place," Marie mumbled, making him confused._

"_What do you mean? Didn't you make this too?" Gohan asked, but then he wondered how Krillin could be in here._

"_No," Marie said with a shake of her head, "I only reopened the tunnel leading to these ones."_

_Gohan was about to say something, but he felt Krillin stir from his unconsciousness._

"_Krillin, do you feel any better?" Gohan asked, seeing his friend's eyes open a bit._

"_Gohan?" he asked, making Gohan a bit worried that he might have hit his head or something._

"_Yeah it's me. And Marie is here too. We were just going to get you out of here. How did you find this place anyway?" he asked as both Marie and him tried to help Krillin up._

_Krillin, however, didn't answer his question._

"_Gohan, you need to get out of here," Krillin whispered, "it's a…"_

_He never got to finish because Gohan felt several Ki levels appear at once._

"_Trap?" a voice said in amusement. Gohan and Marie both looked to see that the figure had now suddenly appeared; an amused smirk on her face._

If she's here, then where is…?_ Gohan thought but then stopped when he felt something wrap around his leg._

_Glancing down quickly, Gohan was surprised to find that the Tako had a tentacle secured around both Marie's and his legs, making it so that they couldn't move._

"_They never make it easy, do they?" Gohan mumbled, knowing that he should have guessed something like this would happen._

_Krillin had apparently passed out again, making Gohan a bit nervous. He realized with relief that the Tako wasn't going for his friend though._

_He looked over at Marie, sensing a large amount of fear coming from her Ki. He started to get worried since he saw that she was shaking badly._

What scared her so badly?_ Gohan wondered. _

_Marie had never told him about what had happened to her before he had found her, but he knew that the way she was reacting it probably wasn't a good thing._

"_So, she was right," the figure stated suddenly, amusement dancing in her crimson eyes._

She?_ Gohan thought with confusion,_ who is she talking about?

_Gohan glanced over at Marie, who had by now given up on getting loose from the Tako's tentacle and was now glaring at the figure, which then gave him a thought._

Could it have been someone Marie knew? Or currently knows?_ He wondered, considering Marie didn't usually show her "rude" side to strangers unless absolutely necessary._

"_Who do you mean?" Gohan asked the figure, glancing up at the ledge she was standing on. The figure then laughed, making Gohan feel a bit irritated._

"_You actually know her quite well," the figure stated, not really helping Gohan find out who she was meaning._

Like you said, they make things hard,_ Marie answered in his head while motioning with her head towards the figure._

Definitely,_ Gohan answered, but was surprised when the figure started to laugh again._

"_So that's what you think of us, is it?" she stated as she laughed. _

_Both Gohan and Marie's eyes widened._

Did she just read our thoughts?_ Gohan wondered, but the only answer he got from Marie was a confused shake of her head._

_He felt the tentacle start to tighten its grasp on his leg. Looking down, he started to feel his leg hurt before he realized that he was suddenly losing feeling in it._

"_Just great," he muttered, feeling absolutely helpless. _

_Gohan hated it when he felt helpless. He felt as if he could do nothing, and then someone always got hurt before he could actually get up the nerve to help._

It always seems like this,_ Gohan thought, trying to find a way out of their current mess, but so far he was having no such luck._

_He thought back to how the day had started, peaceful, and sighed._

Why does something like this always have to happen?_ He wondered, but then looked around, feeling someone watching him,_ Is someone else here?

_He then looked up at the figure again, who seemed to look quite distracted by talking to someone, or something._

_He then felt a Ki slightly reappear and even though it felt very familiar, he couldn't tell who it was._

_He raised his Ki slightly, hoping that would at least get his friends' attention._

Dad, I seriously hope you come quickly;_ Gohan thought but then winced when he felt something sharp hit his leg._

_Looking down, he saw that his leg now had blood running down it. Looking around to see what could have caused it, he then saw that the tentacles had sharp edges to them._

Don't raise your power level or else it will cut you,_ Gohan informed Marie, who then looked over and down at his leg, which then resulted in a gasp and her looking sick._

"_Well, this is getting quite boring, isn't it?" the figure suddenly questioned, making Gohan nervous. _

_He remembered all the "advice" his father had given him to stay away from the figure, but apparently that hadn't helped today._

_Picking up on his thoughts, the figure smiled._

"_Maybe we should make this a bit more interesting, shall we?" she said with a sinister smile on her face._

_Gohan didn't know what she had meant at first, but then he started to worry when he saw a red Ki blast form in her hands._

Not good,_ Gohan thought frantically as he watched the Ki accumulate._

"_Marie, we need to get out of here," Gohan frantically whispered. _

_Marie looked over at him, but all he saw was fear and desperation in her eyes, matching what he was feeling._

"_Good bye," the figure whispered while firing the Ki blast._

_Time suddenly seemed to slow down for Gohan. He saw the Ki come towards him, but he also saw something move from his left, sending a bright yellow Ki blast at the red one, destroying it._

_Before he had time to wonder who it was, a girl stepped out of the shadows, striking Gohan with fear and worry._

"_I'm not going to let you terrorize me anymore," the girl stated, making him freeze when he recognized her voice._

* * *

First of all, I am really sorry that I updated all my other fanfictions earlier and this came later in the month. I thought I was going to Lancaster, but a few things came up and then I got busy with school and life. Either way, I hope this makes up for it. So, who do you think "rescued" Gohan and Marie? And how do you think Krillin ended up in that cave? And did anyone else think Marie was starting an earthquake (besides Gohan and me)? Please tell me your thoughts and more in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	15. Confusing Relations

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Thanks and here's the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 15: Confusing Relations

_ "Leyla! What are you doing here?" Gohan nearly wanted to scream at his crimson eyed friend._

_ Leyla only looked over at him with sadness as she walked to stand in front of the Tako._

_ Gohan started to worry that it would attack her, but when it didn't, he was relieved but confused._

_ "Stop it!" Leyla shouted at the figure, "This wasn't part of the deal!"_

Deal?_ Gohan thought, feeling his heart stop for a moment in surprise, _what does she mean?

_"Oh I know, but it would have been more fun this way," the figure said, clearly annoyed at Leyla's actions._

_ "Fun?" Leyla retorted, making Gohan wonder why she was so angry, "Seriously? You almost killed my friends!"_

_ "They would have had to die sooner or later," the figure answered with a wave of her hand, "why keep getting any more attached to them?"_

_ Gohan suddenly glanced over at the Tako, realizing that its eyes were glowing red._

That's never good,_ Gohan thought, feeling suddenly wary of what the Tako would do._

_ Glancing over at Marie, he saw that she had realized it too, but she also looked mad about something. Following her gaze, he noticed that she was staring at Leyla._

_ Gohan didn't have any time to think on it though, since he felt the Tako's Ki spike suddenly. Looking back to the eight legged creature, he saw that it was forming some kind of red Ki blast._

Not good,_ Gohan thought, but then realized something,_ where have I seen that before? Frieza maybe? But does that mean that the Tako can copy moves?

Yes, but it has to absorb you first,_ Marie answered his question, making him feel somewhat startled._

But daddy defeated Frieza back on Planet Namek, and then it blew up, so how in the world would the Tako have been able to absorb him before the planet exploded?_ Gohan thought with worry about what he had just learned._

_ Realizing that the Ki ball was getting bigger, Gohan tried to move his leg, but that only resulted in more red lines being drawn where the tentacle was attached to his leg._

_ Giving up on getting free for the moment, he looked over at Leyla. Something seemed different about his longtime friend; she seemed almost disturbed about something, that and angry._

_ Leyla's gaze suddenly hardened as she stared at the Tako, making Gohan wonder why it wasn't attacking her._

_ "Stop it," Leyla stated suddenly, staring at the Tako. It seemed to almost direct its attention towards her for a moment. When the Ki blast still did not dissipate, Leyla seemed to get angrier._

_ "I said stop it!" she shouted at the Tako, making it somewhat flinch and lose its concentration, the Ki blast then dissipating._

_ Leyla walked calmly over to the Tako, rubbing one of its tentacles in an almost apologetic manner._

_ "That's no way to treat your future pet, now is it?" the figure questioned Leyla, who was still near the Tako._

_ "No, it's not, but it needs to learn its place," Leyla stated softly, making Gohan very confused._

Future pet? What does she mean?_ He wondered, still looking at his friend._

_ He suddenly felt the grip on his leg loosen and looked down to see that the tentacle was slowly creeping away. Marie ran over to him and looked at his leg with concern._

I'll be fine,_ he told her, not wanting her to worry for the moment. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but she then shook her head and stayed silent._

_ "What are you doing?!" the figure shrieked at Leyla when she saw that the Tako had let them go._

_ "Just leave!" Leyla demanded, "We can deal with this later!"_

_ The figure gave her a hard look before walking back through the tunnel behind the ledge she had been standing on. Leyla gave one last look at the Tako before the octopus vanished after its master._

_ Marie was quietly staring at the ground; Gohan guessed she was just as confused as he was._

_ "Leyla, how did you get here?" Gohan asked, feeling weak, "and why was she saying all that weird stuff?"_

_ "That doesn't matter right now," Leyla stated softly while staring at his leg, "We should probably just get out of here for right now."_

_ Gohan nodded, feeling too tired to argue. He guessed Leyla would tell them when she was ready._

_ Gohan walked over to see Krillin still passed out on the ground and started to help his friend up._

_ "We can carry him," Marie stated softly as Leyla and her came over to help._

_ Gohan nodded, understanding what they meant. As they started to walk back towards where they had come, Gohan glanced over at Leyla._

What is going on? Why was Leyla here?_ He wondered for the tenth time, but decided to let it go._

_ He suddenly felt the pain in his leg return, along with his strength being sapped, made him suddenly fall towards the ground._

* * *

_ Marie and Leyla both turned around when they felt Gohan's Ki drop suddenly. Marie's eyes widened when she saw that Gohan was now passed out on the cave floor._

_ Marie dropped Krillin's feet and ran over to Gohan, hearing a sharp intake of breath behind her when Leyla had to put Krillin down suddenly._

_ She felt Leyla put Krillin down and run over beside her. Marie felt the signal from Gohan's Lotus, so at least he wasn't dead again._

_ "When you said something about bad guys making things hard, sometimes you do too," Marie whispered as she smiled, starting to pick him up, but she realized her problem when he was heavier than her._

_ Leyla apparently saw this and came over to help, but Marie didn't want her to touch him._

Especially with what she's been doing,_ Marie thought with a slight frown on her face._

_ "I'll help him, you help Krillin," Marie stated before Leyla could try and help. Leyla stood there for a moment and then sighed._

_ "You know that they are both too heavy for one person to carry," Leyla said, making Marie feel somewhat a bit annoyed._

_ "I know," she stated, hating how Gohan had just accepted Leyla after everything she had done._

_ "Maybe we could take them out one at a time?" Leyla suggested hopefully, but Marie shook her head._

_ "No, because then we don't have a way of getting them back to the house," Marie said, "and they would be too vulnerable out there if we just stayed up there."_

_ "Maybe they will wake up by then?" Leyla asked hopefully, but Marie just gave her a look before staring around at the cave._

_ It seemed to be an old mining cave, with pieces of wood and rock scattered around the cave._

_ "Maybe we should just stay here," Marie suggested, but then realized another problem._

_ It was going to be nighttime soon, and the one thing she had learned when living with Gohan was that it got really cold at nighttime._

I could make a flower to keep us warm,_ Marie thought but then glanced over at Leyla, _but I don't want her near Gohan and I don't have enough energy left to make three flowers.

_ She glanced back at Leyla and saw that the girl was looking around them with a thoughtful expression on her face. Marie glanced down at the ground and sighed._

_ "How are we going to keep warm though?" Marie whispered, knowing that Leyla didn't know that she could make giant flowers._

_ "We could make a fire," Leyla suggested and then started to walk around, gathering pieces of stray wood and putting it in a pile in front of them. Leyla put the sticks together so that they formed a circle and then fired a Ki blast at it, making Marie fall back a bit when a fire suddenly erupted in front of her._

_ "See?" Leyla asked with a smile on her face, but even though Marie felt somewhat grateful, she still had doubts._

She is playing us_; Marie thought with sadness, _I know what will become of her.

_ Marie shook her head and lied down on the ground, hoping that Gohan would wake up soon, but knowing that she might never have the heart to tell him everything._

* * *

I'm sorry that this is a bit late in the month, but I have been a bit swamped with preparations for Thanksgiving and life in general. But here's the new chapter! And I wasn't actually planning on doing the last part in Marie's POV, but I thought that you guys might enjoy it since I haven't done the story in her POV since Gohan died. So please tell me what you thought or any suggestions in a review, and Happy Thanksgiving!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	16. Finally Home

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** I do agree with you; Marie definitely knows a lot more than she is letting on.

* * *

Chapter 16: Finally Home

_ Marie felt something at the edge of her consciousness and lifted her head up slowly, knowing she had dozed._

_ Her mind instantly started to clear and she glanced over to see both Gohan and Leyla sleeping._

I wonder if he has woken up at all,_ Marie wondered but then tensed a bit when she felt Ki levels coming their way._

_ She stood up and stared at the direction the Ki was coming from, realizing a moment later who the Kis belonged to._

_ Marie stared up at the shapes of the rest of the Z fighters- minus Krillin since he was sleeping also- and then nervously raised her hand, waving it back and forth._

_ She glanced over and saw that Leyla was starting to stir, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she stood up._

_ "It's everyone else," Leyla said to her with her eyes shining. It was almost as if Leyla hadn't realized that she wasn't the first one to spot them._

_ "I know," Marie whispered as she watched Leyla run over to the group, who had by now landed, and started to talk._

_ Marie took one last glance at them before walking over to where Gohan was sleeping. She knelt down beside him and gently shook his arm._

_ "Gohan, wake up," Marie whispered and saw Gohan's eyes peek open a bit, only to shut a moment later._

_ Taking a frustrated breath, Marie then thought of something. Closing her eyes, she concentrated first on her Lotus and then on Gohan's. She was about to send a signal, but then opened her eyes._

Don't. He's exhausted. He needs rest,_ her conscious told her as she stared down at him._

_ "… and we found Krillin too. He's fine and sleeping now though," she heard part of the conversation as Leyla walked over with someone._

_ Marie looked up and saw that Gohan's father, Goku if she was remembering correctly, was staring down at her._

_ "You ok?" he asked and she nodded, averting her gaze back to the ground and listening to Gohan's steady breathing._

_ "He's sleeping," Marie whispered softly as she stared at him._

_ Goku's head nodded and he knelt down and started to pick Gohan up. Marie instantly tensed, feeling uncomfortable. She was about to protest when she started to think again._

It's fine. You couldn't carry him anyway,_ her conscious told her, making her somewhat annoyed._

I know,_ she thought as she got up and started to follow everyone back to the house, flying this time._

_ Marie still felt exhausted, but she knew she had to keep an eye on Gohan._

_ "At least until he wakes up," Marie stated to herself as she stared ahead at where everyone else was flying._

_ She was relieved when they finally landed, heading into the building and standing in the entrance for a moment. She glanced over at the counter where everyone prepared food, seeing a knife laying there._

_ Marie narrowed her eyes a bit and walked over, picking up the knife and turning it in her hands._

_ The knife had a silver blade that looked somewhat rusted, making her think that there had been a time when the blade was new and shiny. Her gaze then trailed to the hilt of the knife. It was a dull golden color with different designs on it. _

_She thought the knife was pretty and was about to put it down when something caught her attention._

_She looked closer at the hilt of the knife and saw two symbols carved into it; Japanese writing._

"_Goku," she whispered out loud as her eyes narrowed, but then became soft at the next word, "Gohan."_

_She tilted her head to the side a little, confused at what she saw._

Goku. Gohan,_ she repeated in her head,_ Gohan's.

_She picked up the knife and slipped it into a pocket on her dress, coming to the conclusion that the knife was Gohan's._

_Marie walked over to Gohan's room and stood in the doorway, seeing him asleep on the bed. She was about to go in the room when she felt a strange feeling._

_She looked back near into the meeting room where the counter was and saw Leyla staring at her, a strange expression in her eyes._

_Brushing it off as nothing, Marie walked into the room and started to close the door, but stopped when she heard talking._

"_Krillin, do you know where the knife went?" she heard Goku's voice ask._

So Krillin's awake,_ Marie thought as she narrowed her eyes, then glancing to the bed a ways behind her,_ then why isn't Gohan?

"_No, I don't" Krillin answered and she heard footsteps head in the direction of the counter, "I wasn't even here when you left."_

"_I remember putting it right here," Goku's voice floated back with a hint of confusion and a tap was heard, indicating that he had touched the place where the knife had been._

"_Maybe it fell?" Krillin suggested, looking on the floor but finding nothing._

"_Maybe…" Goku's voice trailed off as Marie shut the door, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation._

_Her hand touched the pocket of her dress for a moment. She liked feeling sneaky, like she did now. She had to be._

Gohan's,_ she decided again as her hand came away from her pocket and started walking over to the bed, going to wait till Gohan woke up to give him his gift._

* * *

Ok, first of all, I am really, really sorry that this is late! Things got extremely busy for me, especially since it is the holidays. I'll leave it at that since I am sure that you don't want to hear my whole "life story" of why I missed updating this. Either way, this whole chapter was in Marie's point of view and is important. Anyone recognize the knife (for those of you who read "I Need You")? That's important too. Also, I have a sad but necessary announcement. Due to my increasingly busy schedule (school and life in general), I am going to have to update whenever I can. This means that I most likely will not be able to update monthly like I have in the past, so updates will be random. I will not go more than four months without updating, so you won't have to worry too much. I hope that does not make you want to stop reading this, so please continue and be patient. Also, please tell me what you think and any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	17. Rifts

**gvhbjnkmasdf (Guest):** Thanks! And I'm sorry that I have kept everyone in the dark for so long about many things, but hopefully this will help clear some things up. Don't worry, everything will be revealed by the end of this fanfiction.

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** To answer your question, Gohan originally gets the knife in this fanfiction and (since you read I Need You), his other self said that everything was the same for him up until the Cell Games.

* * *

Chapter 17: Rifts

_Gohan's eyes slowly opened. He knew that he had passed out at some point, and was not surprised to find that he was in his bed. He was also not surprised to see Marie sitting on the floor next to the bed, staring at him._

This is becoming a common theme,_ he thought with a smile._

_ "Hi Marie," he said and watched as the girl looked up at him with a sheepish smile on her face._

_ That made him confused. Marie hadn't looked at him like that before._

_ "What did you do?" he asked, resisting the urge to laugh at the look she gave him._

_ He saw Marie glance at the door before looking at him again and back down to her lap, making Gohan even more confused._

_ "I'm not mad," he pried gently; "I just want to know what you did."_

_ His friend gave him one more glance before pulling something out of her pocket, then handing it to him._

_ "Yours," Marie stated with a smile, "your gift."_

_ Gohan wanted to laugh, but he felt the feeling go away when he saw what Marie had handed him._

_ He hadn't paid much attention to the knife after they had come to the building. It was one of the few things he still had from their old house._

_ "Um, thanks Marie," he said looking over at her, "where did you find this?"_

_ Marie thought for a moment before answering._

_ "Out there," she stated as she pointed out towards the meeting room._

_ "Ok, they must have been using it for cutting food then," Gohan nodded with a smile, but then looked at Marie, who now had a mad look on her face._

_ "Disrespect of your property," she whispered disapprovingly before looking at him with a smile, "Yours."_

_ Gohan laughed at his friend's light behavior. He looked over at the door and saw that it was opened a bit. Marie followed his gaze before glaring at the door._

Why does she keep doing that?_ Gohan thought with confusion before his eyes widened when he saw that Marie was walking towards the door, the glare still present on her face._

_ "Um… Marie?" he started to ask, a bit worried with how she was staring at the door._

_ He then heard hurried footsteps that faded when Marie got close enough to open the door. Marie stood by the door for a moment longer, still glaring at it._

_ "Wonder what that was about," Gohan thought out loud. He watched as Marie stalked over to the bed, another mad expression on her face._

_ "Yeah I wonder," he heard Marie mumble sarcastically, making him confused._

What has gotten into her?_ Gohan thought as he stared at the door and then back at Marie, who was now sitting on the bed looking sad._

_ Trying to think of a way to cheer his friend up, Gohan then had an idea._

_ "Hey, Marie," he said quickly, "watch."_

_ She looked over at him as he held the knife hilt towards her. He then saw she had a confused look on her face._

_ "What is it?" he asked, feeling somewhat worried. She stared at him and then the knife._

_ "What do you want me to watch?" she asked him, making him want to laugh at his own forgetfulness._

_ "Oops, I forgot to explain," Gohan stated quickly and then guided one of her hands to the hilt, "send your Ki through it."_

_ Marie looked at him again before sending some of her Ki into the knife. Gohan smiled at Marie's surprised face as her name was then inscribed in Japanese symbols onto the knife._

_ "So that's how…" Marie started to say but then stopped, becoming almost speechless._

_ "Yep," Gohan said with a smile. He was somewhat glad that Marie had forgotten about what had happened a few moments before; it had somewhat scared him with the way she had been acting._

_ "Leyla's name isn't here," Marie commented, making Gohan think for a moment._

_ "Oh yeah, I guess I never thought to ask," He inwardly flinched, wondering why he hadn't asked his best friend to add her name to the knife, "Maybe I should-"_

_Marie tugged on his arm when he started to get up._

_ "What is it, Marie?" he asked, feeling as if his friend had something to say._

_ "Leyla doesn't want her name on the knife," Marie stated, avoiding his eyes._

_ "She doesn't?" he questioned, feeling confused, "How do you know that?"_

_ "She told me while you were passed out," Marie stated slowly, still avoiding his eyes. He looked at her for a moment, wondering why she was acting so strange._

_ "Marie, is everything ok?" he asked softly as he stared at her. She looked over at him before staring at the open door._

_ "I want to go out there," Marie stated suddenly as she pointed out the door._

_ Gohan shook his head and led her into the meeting room, feeling as if something was very wrong._

* * *

_ Leyla saw with relief that Gohan was awake, but she frowned when she saw Marie come out of the room with him._

Why is she always with him?_ Leyla thought with a bit of jealousy. _

_ Ever since Gohan had found the blue-eyed girl, Marie had constantly been with him at all times._

_ She saw Gohan walk over to the counter where Goku and Krillin were now looking for the knife. She watched as Goku explained that he hadn't been able to find the knife._

_ "I remember putting it right here," Goku said as he patted the top of the counter. Gohan glance over at Marie for a moment before answering._

_ "Marie apparently brought it in my room," Gohan said with an apologetic look on his face as he placed the knife back on the counter._

She must have taken it, _Leyla thought as she narrowed her eyes. Marie looked over at her and copied the look, then glancing away when Gohan started talking again._

_ "Do you need any help?" Gohan asked his father, making Leyla somewhat lose interest in the conversation._

_ She walked over to the wall and sat down with her back against it, dozing a bit. She didn't really pay attention to the conversation until she heard Gohan sounding concerned._

_ "Dad, do you know where Marie went?" Leyla opened her eyes and looked over at her friend, who was looking somewhat worried._

_ "No, I thought she was right behind you," Goku stated as he pointed to where the other girl had been._

_ "She was but…" Gohan said with a shake of his head before staring out the door, "I'm going to go look for her."_

_ "I'll help," Leyla shot up from her place on the floor before following closely behind Gohan._

_ "Thanks," he whispered, although Leyla could tell that his mind was someplace else._

_ Leyla paused and looked back into the house, making sure the girl wasn't hiding inside, before following Gohan out._

_ "Now where did that knife go again?" she heard Goku ask as she exited the house._

He really needs to find a better place to put that,_ Leyla thought with a smile, before realizing that she had lost sight of Gohan._

_ "Gohan?" she said, but did not get an answer. She tried searching for his Ki, but found that he must have been suppressing it._

_ Leyla continued to walk until she came to a dirt path leading out of the area. She quickly glanced around before following it._

_ She stared absentmindedly at the road, wondering where the other girl could have gone._

I personally don't care if she gets lost, but I know that would make Gohan sad,_ she thought with a sigh._

_ She didn't really like Marie, considering the other girl seemed to be vying for Gohan's attention all the time._

_ Leyla glance up in front of her when she thought she felt a Ki level, but it soon dissipated._

What was that?_ She wondered, glancing around. Her eyes then fell on a small, rundown shack off to her left._

_ "It looks like no one lives here," she mumbled, feeling sorry for whoever had lived in the shelter beforehand._

Better keep looking,_ she thought quickly. She started to walk again, this time away from the shelter._

_ Leyla suddenly felt a Ki level appear behind her and, trying to turn around, got pushed into the shack._

* * *

Wonder where Marie went,_ Gohan thought as he walked out of the house, _she has been acting kind of strange today.

_Gohan shook his head, thankful that Leyla had volunteered to help look. Ever since the two of them had met, both Leyla and Marie had seemed to have a barrier between them._

_ "But why?" Gohan thought out loud, but then stopped when he realized that Leyla could have heard him._

_ Glancing over his shoulder, he was surprised to see that Leyla wasn't following him. He started to panic a bit, before realizing something._

Where did her Ki go?_ Gohan thought worriedly when he realized he couldn't sense either Marie or Leyla anymore._

_ He turned a complete circle before coming to a realization._

She must be hiding her Ki,_ Gohan thought,_ or she could have gone off to cover more ground.

_Feeling slightly more relieved, he continued his search. As he continued to walk, he started to feel as if the landscape was becoming more familiar._

_ Frowning slightly, he continued to walk before coming to a small cliff. He looked across to where there was a jagged ledge on the cliff, before looking down and seeing pieces of rock scattered on the ground._

_ Gohan shuddered, realizing he was at the cliff the three of them had explored a while ago._

Also, this is where I died,_ Gohan thought as he stared down at the ground below the cliff, remembering that Marie had mentioned of what happened after he had lost consciousness._

_ Looking up at the sky, Gohan realized it was already starting to get dark._

Didn't know it was so late,_ Gohan thought with worry, _I should get back.

_ Gohan then thought of something._

_ "Maybe Leyla's already found Marie and brought her back," Gohan mused as he started to walk back._

But that still doesn't explain why she didn't contact me,_ Gohan thought as he continued to walk back home, hoping that his suspicion was right._

* * *

_ Marie had been hoping that Leyla would have hit her head and gotten knocked out when she had pushed her inside._

Would have made this a lot easier,_ Marie thought with a frown,_ a lot less pain that way.

_ Sadly for Marie, Leyla was still awake. The brown haired girl stood up clutching her head, staring with shock at Marie._

_ "What are you doing?" Leyla asked with a hint of anger, "We've been looking for you all over._

_ Marie pondered that, but her eyes narrowed._

She must be lying;_ Marie thought as she stared at the other girl, _she doesn't care. I know Gohan's looking though.

_ Marie felt a slight flutter in the area around them, knowing that she would have to get this done quickly._

The disguise won't hold for much longer,_ she thought with a sigh,_ Gohan will then come looking…

_She cringed at that, not wanting Gohan to know what she was about to do._

_ "But it has to be done," Marie thought, trying to convince herself, but stopped when she saw that Leyla was trying to get out the door._

_ Vines quickly grew and secured the door, making it not able to be opened. Marie watched as Leyla fell back in shock._

Did Gohan even tell her how similar I am to him?_ She thought as she walked over to the girl, who was trying to get up,_ does she even know what must happen?

_ She watched as her "friend" stood up, giving her a mad look._

_ "What is going on?!" Leyla demanded angrily, making Marie look away from her._

_ "I told you to stay away from him," Marie answered as she stared at the ground. Leyla gave her a look of confusion._

_ "Who?" she asked, still angry, "Gohan?"_

_ Marie nodded, still not looking at the other girl._

_ "You can't tell me to do that," Leyla stated with a glare, "I have known him longer and you are just intruding upon our friendship."_

_ Marie, feeling her anger rise, shoved Leyla against the wall of the shack, then slipped her hand into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the knife, holding it against Leyla's throat._

_ "You took it," Leyla whispered with her eyes wide, "it's Gohan's. You took from him."_

_ Marie frowned, feeling guilt gnaw at her; Leyla's words were her exact conscience._

_ "Be quiet," Marie whispered, feeling her resolve start to fade a bit._

It only takes one small move, and then she's gone,_ Marie thought, _one small move, and so much pain can be stopped.

_Marie looked at Leyla, seeing the same tear stricken face as her own. She hated the thought of killing, she knew that._

But this should be an exception,_ she argued, feeling the disguise waver again._

_ She took one last look at Leyla and ran out the door, back towards where Gohan's Ki was coming from._

* * *

_ Gohan sat on his bed, trying not to worry so much as he watched the sun go down. He had come back to the building, still searching for their Kis, but found that neither Marie nor Leyla were back yet._

_ "I'm sure they're fine," his dad had said to him. Gohan knew he had been right, but he was still worried._

_ "I'll wait a bit longer, but if they aren't back by the time it's dark, I'm going to look for them," he had said as he walked towards his room, then knowing what his father was going to say next, he added, "and I don't think 'bedroom confinement' is working so well. My friends keep breaking me out on their own free will."_

_ They had both laughed at that; making him forget momentarily that the two friends mentioned weren't there._

_ He sighed as he noticed that the sun had almost disappeared behind the scorched mountains in the distance. He closed his eyes for a moment, but opened them quickly again when he heard a familiar voice._

_ "I found it," was all the voice said before hurried footsteps came near his room, revealing Marie's tear stained face._

_ "Marie, what-" Gohan started to ask, but Marie ran and curled up into the flower; soft muffled crying coming from within._

_ He got up and peeked his head out the door, looking for his father in the eating area._

_ "Dad, do you know what's bothering her?" Gohan asked, hoping he would know._

_ "No, she just came in and when I tried to ask, she put the knife down and ran into your room," Goku said with a sad look, "sorry."_

_ "It's ok," Gohan stated before going back to sit on his bed. He glanced at the huge flower again, not sure of how to comfort his friend._

But what's bothering her?_ He wondered, but turned around when he heard a knock on his window._

_ His eyes widened when he saw that Leyla was hanging from the windowsill. He quickly went and opened the window._

_ "Is that a habit I'm unaware of?" he asked, helping his friend up._

_ "No, but I wanted to make sure that it was safe," Leyla said when she was in the room, making him confused._

_ "Safe from what?" he asked, feeling very confused. He heard a movement and saw one of the flower's petals were parted slightly, but then it closed again when Leyla followed his gaze._

_ "Gohan, there's something I need to tell you about _her_," Leyla said hurriedly as she pointed at the flower._

_ "Were you two having some friend bonding time that I was unaware of?" Gohan asked hopefully, but with the way Leyla was looking at him, he knew that wasn't the case._

_ "No, of course not," Leyla said before lowering her voice, "Gohan, she tried to kill me."_

_ Gohan stared at his friend with confusion. He looked back at the flower and knew that Marie could hear them._

_ "Leyla, I don't think this is the right time-" Gohan started to say warily, not wanting to upset either of his friends any further, but he was interrupted._

_ "Gohan, you have to believe me," Leyla pleaded, but Gohan still felt doubtful. Marie didn't seem like the type to hurt anyone, let alone Leyla._

But she has been acting weird,_ Gohan argued with himself._

_ "Gohan, she took your knife. She had it, and was going to kill me," Leyla pleaded again, but he started to back away, unsure of what was being said._

_ "I don't-" He started to say but shook his head, feeling confused and tired._

Gohan, please don't listen to her,_ Marie's pleading voice now came into his head._

I don't know, Marie. I know you couldn't hurt anyone, but she's my friend too,_ Gohan answered, shaking his head._

But Gohan-_ Marie's voice wavered for a moment before it grew frantic;_ how well do you think you really know her? What about her family?

I knew her mom-_ Gohan started to answer, feeling somewhat panicky._

Yes, but do you know anything else? Like why she has those weird eyes?_ Marie questioned, making him want to tell her not to insult Leyla because she was different, but for some reason he couldn't._

_ Gohan shook his head again._

_ "I need some time to think," Gohan whispered and then exited the room, not sure of who was telling the truth._

* * *

Hmm… I think this is a new record in length for this fanfiction (18 pages in Microsoft Word). Either way, this chapter was from Gohan, Marie, and Leyla's perspectives. Sorry I sort of jumped around a bit, but I had to do that to make it easier to understand. What do you think about how everyone is acting? Gohan is obviously confused (torn between his long-time friend and his new one), Marie is just acting really strange, and Leyla is definitely hiding something (but then again, aren't most of the characters). Next chapter will be a big realization that will just add to the confusion that Gohan is feeling (hint: it's about someone other than the three mentioned). What do you think the 'twist' will be? Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please tell me what you thought in a review (please?)!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	18. Gone

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Thanks! And I feel bad for him too, although sadly this isn't going to be the last time he might have to choose. And I guess we really don't know what Marie really acts like since there are so many secrets revolving around her and Leyla. Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Chapter 18: Gone

_Gohan felt his air supply coming in short breaths. He sat looking out over the underground lake, feeling absolute sadness and confusion; anger too._

Why would he do this?_ Gohan thought as he felt more tears stream down his face,_ why, when we need him the most? When I needed him?

_Gohan wished he had the answers to his questions, but he knew he wouldn't have them now, probably not for a long time either. The only way he would know is if he asked the problem itself, which was impossible by now._

_ He was glad that Marie and Leyla had the sense to stay away for now; he knew that they were just as shocked as he was._

_ He felt more tears blur his vision and hugged his knees; resting his head on them as he thought back to one hour ago._

* * *

_ He should have known something was wrong; should have paid more attention to his surroundings._

_ The day had seemed normal enough, but there was one significant problem resting in the back of his mind: he hadn't seen his father the whole day._

_ Gohan had figured that they all needed some air, especially after Leyla's tear-filled story that Marie had tried to kill her. He still didn't know who to believe, or who to trust anymore._

_ His father had seem somewhat stunned when Gohan had walked out of his room, his face now streaked with tears but a numb expression on his face; mirroring what he had felt inside._

_ When Goku had tried to comfort him, Gohan had run for the second time, running anywhere but where his two friends were waiting; one obviously lying and the other telling him the truth._

_ He had returned back to the building late at night, going back to his room but not sleeping until hours later._

_ When he woke up and realized his father was not in the building, he had thought that he probably needed some air or went to get something. Gohan had then gone for a walk where he knew it was safe, since he still felt weak, and started to search for Ki levels._

_ He found Krillin, Piccolo, and even Vegeta's Kis easy enough, but he still couldn't find his father._

_ Gohan had started to worry, but then just assumed that his father was hiding his Ki, even when a persistent question nagged at the back of his mind:_

What are you hiding from?

_ He had then assumed that his father didn't want the Tako to find them, then hiding his own Ki, but couldn't figure out why everyone else's felt relaxed._

_ Marie and Leyla had woken up later in the day, probably exhausted from the past few days and the last night's ordeal. They had both stayed near him the whole day, acting cheerful, but Gohan could tell that even thought they were near each other, Marie and Leyla now had driven a wedge between them._

_ Gohan felt as if there was a wedge blocking himself from them as well, but he wasn't quite sure yet; at least the wedge seemed more visible with Leyla. He knew that his long-time friend was taking it hard that he hadn't believed what she had to say, but Gohan knew that Leyla was jealous. Of what, he didn't know, but he knew it had something to do with Marie._

_ They had went throughout the day, gathering food from little areas that had some and exploring, although more carefully this time. He knew they were more guarded, most likely because of being captured last time._

_ Fear didn't surface until the sun was starting to turn the sky colors of red and orange, signaling that nighttime was fast approaching._

_ He sat outside of the house, waiting for his father to return from wherever he had been that day._

_ Gohan felt the wind start up, making a slight chill enter the air, but still he wanted to wait._

_ Leyla was the first to follow the others inside, glancing back at him and Marie before going into the building. Marie, after a while, left as well, but not before whispering that things would be fine. She had a sad expression on her face, making Gohan feel even more worried._

_ He continued to sit and watch as the sun sunk lower into the sky. Gohan didn't know how much time had passed, but he turned around when he heard a voice behind him._

_ "Gohan, we need to talk to you," Krillin said with a grave expression on his face, making Gohan start to feel nauseous._

_ He glanced back at the sky once before getting up and going inside. A warning then went off in his head when he saw that almost everyone was sitting in the meeting area. Vegeta was not present, and neither was his father._

_ "Is Daddy out practicing with Vegeta?" Gohan asked, feeling somewhat nervous._

_ Everyone except Leyla and Marie shared a look, making Gohan feel even more alarmed._

_ "What happened?" Gohan asked in a whisper, sitting down when he feared that his legs would fail. He then realized that he was shaking._

_ Krillin looked as if he was about to talk, but Piccolo beat him to it._

_ "Gohan, your father has left for a while," his mentor said, staring at him wearily for a reaction._

_ Gohan's head tilted to the side, confusion entering him. He still felt some fear, but he knew that the worst didn't happen as he had feared._

_ "Why?" he asked, wondering what the looks between the others meant._

_ "He…" Krillin started, seeming at a loss for words, "needs some time to himself. He said he was going to train-"_

_ "What?" Gohan interrupted, feeling some sadness course through him, "Why? What does he need to train for?"_

_ "We don't know. He didn't really say," Krillin said with a sigh and looked like he would say more, but something held him back._

_ Gohan noticed this and felt a bit guarded, knowing they were keeping information from him._

_ The room was silent for a while. Gohan was now staring at the floor, trying to get his emotions in check._

_ "How long is he going to be gone, and where is he?" Gohan asked, hoping they would be able to give him something to work off of._

_ "He didn't really say," Krillin said, a somewhat sad expression on his face, "He just said that he would be back sometime."_

_ Gohan just stared at Krillin, not believing what he was hearing. Gohan stared at the floor, not answering for a bit._

_ "Again?" he whispered to himself, "How many more times is he going to do this?"_

_ He bit his lip, feeling sadness overwhelm him. All his father had seemed to do since he could remember was run away and train._

That's all he does,_ Gohan thought as he glared at the ground,_ and that's all he cares about.

_ Gohan stood up and started to walk towards the door. Time seemed to slow for him; tears fell from his eyes as he stared out the door._

_ "Gohan, it's not like you aren't going to see him again," Krillin said, making him stop walking._

_ He wanted to reply, but sadness was tightening his throat as well. He heard someone else stand up and start to walk towards him._

_ "Gohan, it's not like he's dead," Leyla said softly, bringing her mother to his mind. He shook his head, closing his eyes as his sadness turned to anger._

_ "He might as well be!" Gohan shouted, turning around to stare at the blurry images of his friends. _

_His gaze wandered to the hazy form of a mirror on the far side of the room, seeing a smudge of yellow._

_ He then glanced over at Leyla, seeing her standing, shocked that he had yelled._

_ "He's not dead, Gohan," Leyla stated, a bit more harshly this time, "you can at least see him again."_

_ "How do I ever know that?" He asked harshly, staring at his friend, "How do I know since every time he runs off, he _could_ die?"_

_ "He hasn't been gone forever though," Leyla said as tears filled her crimson eyes, "Not like my mother."_

_ Gohan felt his breath go out of him as images of her mother entered his mind. He shook his head, hoping to get rid of them, but they continued to flash in his mind. He then came to a realization._

_ "So that's what this is about," Gohan mumbled before glaring at Leyla, "Now are you blaming me too?"_

_ Leyla seemed shocked at that, the tears slipping from her eyes and falling down her face._

_ "What do you mean?" she asked, "I'm not blaming you. You tried to save her."_

_ "Yes, I tried, but I'm never quick enough," Gohan said as he stared at the ground, feeling pain, "I try to protect people, but I'm always too late."_

_ He heard Leyla take a step forward, making him want to move away. He stayed where he was, willing himself not to bolt._

_ "Gohan," Leyla said in a whisper, "You tried. That's what counts. There was nothing you could have done."_

_ "Nothing I could have done?" he repeated in a mocking voice filled with pain, "there is always something I could have done. I should have been able to save her, but I…"_

_ Gohan felt tears stream down his face again, not being able to finish the sentence in front of his friend. She took another step closer, making him tense. Her eyes were filled with uncertainty._

_ "You what?" she asked, no more anger in her voice._

_ Gohan shook his head and looked around the room, not wanting to say it out loud. He willed himself to take a step closer, until he was near enough to touch Leyla's hand. He saw Marie's eyes narrow a bit, but he didn't care._

_ All that mattered was that Leyla had to know the truth. Gohan closed his eyes and focused on the memory of them trapped in the alley and what he had seen, and then focused on what had happened with her mother. It hurt him to go through the memories again, feeling like he was reliving them, but he knew he had to do it._

_ Leyla suddenly gasped, pushing away from him and running out of the room. Gohan stared after her, wanting to follow but didn't when he heard a door slam._

_ Krillin glanced at him with a sad but confused look in his eyes. He felt all of his strength leave him at once, making him want to lie down, but he continued standing. He heard soft footsteps come near him and felt a hand on his arm._

_ "Gohan…" Marie whispered, tears in her eyes now too, "It's not your fault."_

_ She started to draw closer to him, trying to give him a comforting hug, but Gohan pulled away and ran. He knew that he had promised he wouldn't, but he couldn't take it anymore._

_ He could feel Marie's sadness through her Ki as he moved further away and into the night. He didn't care where he would go; didn't even care if the Tako found him at this point. All he wanted was for the pain to end._

_ Gohan stopped running at some point and glanced up, seeing the last rays of light settling on the abandoned building that led to the underwater lake. He ran into the small stone building and started to tear away at the stone blocks that were hiding the entrance._

_ He felt desperate, wanting to hide somewhere, anywhere that he could be alone. Gohan drew a sharp breath when he felt pain slice across his wrist. He looked down and saw a cut caused by one of the stones; blood was now seeping from it. He glanced at it before crawling down the entrance._

_ By the time he had walked down the stairs, the cut on his wrist was starting to burn. He glanced down at it and realized it was still bleeding, giving him the impulse to press it against his Gi._

_ He walked down to the water's edge and dipped his wrist in it, biting his lip as pain brought about cleansing._

_ "Why did you have to leave us?" Gohan asked as more tears brimmed in his eyes, "Why do you have to leave when I need you most?"_

_ He buried his head in his knees, and realized for the first time what it truly felt like to be alone._

* * *

Yes, I know somewhat of a depressing chapter, but it reveals the answer to the question I asked at the author's note in the last chapter. I personally did not think I was going to be able to release a chapter this month, since I've been so busy. I might not be able to release a chapter next month since I am going on vacation for the whole month and might not have time to work on the chapters. Either way, you'll know if I release next month if I had time or not. Now on to more important things… Goku is now gone, but don't worry, he's not out of the story completely. Like Leyla said, "He's not dead." Hm… and now I wonder if I have been saying that too much… Either way, please tell me what you thought and any suggestions in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


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